Vega
GullLarus vegae
4th.Jan.
2001 Gyoutoku Ichikawa Chiba Japan
Their heads are covered with
soft, gray-brown streaking. Head-streaking of Vega Gull is
more uniform and softer than "heuglini-related
gull"('taimyrensis'), but is sharper than
Thayer's gull on average.
Although their iris colors are
very variable, the percentage of dark-eyed individual seems
pretty higher than that of other "Herring gull"
taxons.
Small, cute,
female-types sometimes resemble Thayer's Gull. But real Thayer's are
usually distinguished enough by its mantle color, head streaking,
and wing-pattern in the field.
The P10 is still a
little short.
Darker-mantled individuals
are sometimes found, and somewhat resemble Slaty-backed Gull. Some of those individuals might
suggest hybrid.
This relatively small
individual seems to have old P10 (or 9?). And this molt seems
exceptionally late for vegae. And the head shape looks
triangular. I felt these features might hint influence of
huglini-relationship.
(- somewhere around the range of 'birulai'-'taimyrensis'
? ).
.
The mantle shade
was slightly darker than other individuals in the field.
Probable 4th.winter.
Sub-adult type often has
extremely heavy streaking like this.
This individual shows thin head-streaking.
And the amount of head-streaking seems to equal some mongolicis.
But the molt seems to be obviously later than that of mongolicus.