This presumed first-basic smithsonianus Herring Gull was photographed at Bolivar
Flats, Texas on November 22, 1999. I feel it is an advanced-molt
first-basic rather than a 2nd-basic that mimics a first-basic,
because of the retained juvenile lower tertials and (on the bottom
image) juvenile lowermost subscapular. Assuming for the moment
that it is indeed a first-basic, its state of molt is unusual
in that a number of wing coverts plus the upper tertials have
already been replaced by November of its first year. It appears
(from this bird and a few other examples at my web site) that
smith. HERGs can sometimes exhibit similar molt patterns
to Yellow-legged Gull, and thus this feature needs to be used
with great caution to support a 1B YLGU identification:
