[wisb] Black-legged Kittiwake?
- From: "B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wisbirdn <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 17:29:12 -0800 (PST)
Yesterday I reported a mystery gull. I described it as "Smallish, about the
size of the Scaups it was hanging out with. Black bill, some sootiness on the
sides of the head. I'm thinking probably Bonaparte's?"
Off-list, someone suggested that I consider juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake.
The size makes sense, since it was the size of the Greater Scaups it was
hanging out with. My preliminary Bonaparte's ID bothered me a bit because I
sort of thought a Bonaparte's would be noticeably smaller than a Scaup.
I checked my Sibley, and his illustration of a first winter Black-legged
Kittiwake (p. 229) kind of looks like what I saw, EXCEPT that I don't really
recall seeing a black collar at the back of the neck. The caption on one BNA
Online photo of a first winter bird sort of hints that these birds might not
always have the dark collar: "Many often show a dark collar as well".
The bird I saw more resembles Sibley's illustration of a first summer bird,
except that the bill was all black. And it seems pretty late for a first-summer
plumaged bird.
What's the likelihood of finding a first winter Black-legged Kittiwake with no
immediately obvious neck collar on Lake Michigan at this time of year? Or a
late first-summer plumaged bird?
Just curious...
Bernie Sloan
Milwaukee
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