What better way to celebrate winter solstice 2023 than with more gull content? Here, a special focus on Lesser Black-backed Gulls, seen multiple times recently at Beach No. 11 @ Presque Isle State Park.
First, as part of BirdingPI.com’s DEI initiative, proposing a more inviting name for this lovely gull, relative to Great Black-backed Gull, such as:
- “Great Black-backed Gull” & “Slightly Smaller Black-backed Gull”
- “Great Black-backed Gull” & “Also Great Black-backed Gull,” etc.
Stay tuned for more on this front, along with further “no birds named after racist/bad humans” re-naming announcements.
Moving on to substantive matters, for comparison purposes, a Great Black-backed Gull on the breakwater off Budny Beach:
ID tips – large gull, pink legs, black or dark slate wings/back, white chest/head, and yellow bill with red spot:
Fun fact: Great Black-backed Gull is the largest gull species in the world!
Now on to Beach No. 11. Amongst mixed gulls, gull in upper left corner standing on one leg = Lesser Black-backed Gull. ID tips: smaller than Great Black-backed Gull + Herring Gull; larger than Ring-billed Gull; yellow legs; wings/back may be lighter than Great Black-backed Gull, but even if so, much darker than Herring Gull; yellow beak with red spot.
Comparison to Herring Gull on left:
More views:
Now back to Great Black-backed Gull @ same date/location (hint – it has a black back):
Bonus beautiful Ring-billed Gulls:
Finally, even if birds aren’t government drones, clearly this gull is trained for tactical operations:
[Editor’s note: “clearly” should be in quotes. Please revise before publishing.]
Actually that was a drone with the shotgun shell. A top secret operation by the Bureau of (censored).