This first-cycle HERG-type gull was photographed in Galveston County, Texas, on January 26, 2006; it has all the features of Vega Gull (Larus [argentatus] vegae), including the double white band on the secondary wing coverts extending to the outermost feathers, mottled underparts on white background (more like a well-marked LBBG than a smith.), very white undertail coverts with thin , sparse dark marks, thin white line on the foremost lesser secondary coverts, dappled underwing coverts/axillaries - and of course, that tail:
