This presumed 4th-basic Lesser Black-backed
Gull (Larus fuscus graellsii?) was photographed
by Martin Reid at Brownsville, Texas on January 15, 2001; it is
an unusual bird for a number of reasons:- there are three fresh
primaries beyond the rather worn tertials, plus two extremely
abraded old primaries; the length of the pale shaft "pin"
sticking beyond the tip of the longest new primary suggests that
these two retained Ps are P9 and P10; during a couple of brief
flights and some clumsy walking (the bird, not me...), I could
see that there appeared to be only two old Ps, and no apparent
gap between them and the nextmost fresh P (but I cannot be certain
of this - I was unable to get any open-wing photos), and that
there were no visible gaps anywhere in the wing (i.e. no gaps
in the inner wing either); Initially I was unsure if the three
fresh Ps were P5-7 or P6-8; the pattern on the next innermost
P, tucked well under the tertials, has a broken black subterminal
band with a large area of white separating the two narrow black
marks - this is unlikely to be P5; the pattern of the innermost
of the three fresh Ps looks typical of a well-marked P5, in that
the black band is thick yet fairly even, with only a very small
extension up the outer edge that is matched in extent by a dagger-shaped
peak of black that juts out along the shaft; normally the position
of the tail tip would confirm the numbering of the Ps - but this
bird is completely tail-less, with no outward signs of
any replacement retrices; the markings on the lower nape/hindneck
are brownish, and very heavy and blurry along the mantle line;
there were a few scattered diffuse scallops of pale brownish on
the upper breast, and a strong rich brown tinge in the worn-looking
scapulars; the bill base looks fleshy in these images, but in
the field we all remarked on how the base looked very pale green
- almost a washed-out "Key Lime" tone; the legs were
unequivocally yellow throughout the tibia, tarsus and feet (typical
winter graellsii color); the eye was that pale whitish-yellow
typical of graellsii, and the orbital ring was red:
