This first-cycle presumed American Herring Gull Larus [argentatus] smithsonianus was photographed at Humble, Harris County, Texas on February 25, 2008. Conventional wisdom is that one of the strong features of non-adult smiths is that they have a fairly solid dark "shawl" around the base of the neck that contrasts with a whitish head; I contend that this individual is no more strongly-marked in this area than many L. argentatus argenteus:
