ID help

[moratorian]

Hi,

I have recently looked through my bird pictures again that I took in Newfoundland this past summer and ran across a number of birds that I'm unsure of. The first bird I had initially identified as a Black-headed Gull. It was in with a number of Ring-billed Gulls. No other gull seems to quite match.

http://outdoorontario.net/Gallery/Mikes ... ull_NFLa_2
http://outdoorontario.net/Gallery/Mikes ... ull_NFLa_1
http://outdoorontario.net/Gallery/Mikes ... _Gull_NFLa

The second bird I didn't even know I had until I looked a bit closer at one of the pictures. My bird guides suggest that this may be a female Common Eider. Any takers?

http://outdoorontario.net/Gallery/Mikes ... der_female

[Brian Bailey]

I'd agree with the Common Eider, but I'm not so sure about the gull.

I've never had the patience to learn the finer points of gull IDs, but I think it's a Bonaparte's Gull.  The legs do look dark, and the white does go pretty far up the back of the head, but that bill is black.  I don't think there's any age of Black-headed Gull that will have adult plumage and an all black bill.

Maybe there's a gull expert that can set me straight.

BB

[moratorian]

Thanks Brian,

There are a couple of confounding details about this gull. One, all the pictures I have seen of the Black-headed Gull show a brownish hood as in this bird, while Bonaparte's hood is black. The bill does appear to be black. If I get in real close there is what may be a reddish tinge, but not enough to indicate a reddish beak. I never got close enough to see the actual colour. But the colour of the legs also appear to be dark whereas both Bonaparte's and Black-headed gulls have orange/red legs.

Mike

[moratorian]

Hi,

I think I solved the problem. My photos are taken in RAW so I went back into Photoshop and increased the saturation. You can see that the dark bill and legs are now showing a more reddish colour. Black would have become darker. I think that the distance of the bird as well as the lighting washed the colours out making them seem dark.

http://outdoorontario.net/Gallery/Mikes ... eaded_Gull

Mike

[thouc]

Yes, definitely looks like Black-headed Gull and Common Eider. I'm familiar with them from Europe.
The brown head is the best indication for "Black"-headed Gull.

-Thomas

[Andreas Jonsson]

I agree with thouc: Common Eider and Black-headed gull. Another distinct feature for BHG (which can't be seen in these photos) is the coloring on the underside of the hand feathers (primaries).

[moratorian]

I also ran across a picture of a Black-headed Gull in Howell and Dunn's Gulls of the Americas with a very dark looking beak (pg 53).

Mike