Gulls in NW Europe
(last update: September 25, 2011
Herring Gull 2cy (argenteus) H-161236 July 19 2010, Boulogne-sur-Mer, NW France. Picture: Jean-Michel Sauvage.
Ringed as juvenile on June 27 2009 at Zeebrugge, Belgium.
Second-calendar year Herring Gull, moulting to second-winter plumage. The tertials and all wing coverts are replaced by second-generation feathers, and have a blocked pattern (some still show a buffish-yellow tinge). The rounded tip of a second-generation primary (P7 fully grown) is extruding the tertials and contrasts with the more pointed first-generation P10 which is a faded brown. The base of the bill is pink; the head is light with dark streaks, the eye spot is dark. The breast, underbody and flanks are white with dark barring. The legs are pink.
