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ABA Online Bird Photo Quiz 34
ANSWER
Well, we waited until the 34th photo quiz to introduce our first gull. And given the number of correct responses, apparently we chose one that wasn't exceptionally difficult.
When dealing with a gull, the first thing to do is to age it. When taken in concert, the extensively brownish colored underwing, dirty underparts, patterned undertail coverts, black tail band and uniformly black bill suggest that we are dealing with a first-cycle bird. Perhaps some birds just entering their second cycle-birds could retain this all dark bill and have a similar plumage (but at least from this angle we see no hint of second-cycle feathers, indeed it appears as thought the bird may still be entirely in juvenal plumage).
At this point, size and structure become important clues. Since there are no birds for comparison, it's hard to judge for certain, but the bird seems large. Less subjective, is the large bill that expands at the gonys. This may call to mind a very large Herring Gull, Western Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, and Kelp Gull.
The other striking feature about this individual is the distal tail band, which is narrow compared to what one would expect with North American Herring Gulls, Western Gull and Kelp Gull. This pattern is typical of what one would expect on a first-cycle Great Black-backed Gull. The fairly white head and underparts with relatively sparse mottling and streaking are also typical of Great Black-backed Gull.
This first-cycle Great Black-backed Gull was photographed by the author at Massachusetts in late December 2005.
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The following people (listed by submission date beginning with the earliest) submitted correct answers for the January Bird Photo Quiz – Great Black-backed Gull:
- Steven Mitten, Belize City, Belize
- Stephanie Smith, Lansing, MI
- Mark Brown, Dalmatia, Pa
- crystal malick, dalmtia,pa
- Jason Waanders, Washington, DC
- Thomas Lally, Chicago, IL
- Maggie MacPherson, Guelph, ON
- Mike Boyd, Oakville, Ontario
- Cathy Carroll, Dearborn, Michigan
- Ben Coulter, Erie, PA
- Richard Hibpshman, Issaquah, WA
- Kyle Horner, Guelph, Ontario
- Stephen Joly, Kamloops, BC
- Macy Brown, Leander, TX
- Marcel Gauthier, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, Canada
- Seabrooke, Toronto, Ontario
- Justin Bosler, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- Mary Covello, Bolton CT
- Mark Chao, Ithaca, NY
- rob young, alexandria, VA
- John Bissell, Grimes, Iowa
- Chad Heins, Mankato, MN
- Jay McEntee, Berkeley, CA
- Enrique Zamora, Ensenada, Baja California
- Sherry Punak-Murphy, Shilo, Manitoba, Canada
- Marg Partridge, wilson, NY
- Chantel Melgarejo, Laurel Hollow, NY
- jerome wood, Huntington NY
- Kelly Solinger, Syosset, New York
- Bill Maynard, Colorado Springs, CO
- Philip Kline, Tucson, AZ
- Nathan Swick, Chapel Hill, NC
- Will Richardson, Truckee, CA
- Christiana Wood, Suitland, Maryland
- Colin Gjervold, St Petersburg, FL
- Ben Young, Salem, OR
- Rob Fowler, Arcata, CA
- Ben Meadors, North Little Rock, AR
- Marcelo Brongo, Barcelona, Spain
- Christopher Colby, York, PA
- Jason Beason, Paonia, CO
- Lee Barnes, Seattle, WA
- Alex Lin-Moore, Houston, TX
- Hannah Kistler, Newton Falls, OH
- Richard Garrigues, San Antonio de Belen, Heredia, Costa Rica
- Janice St.Jean, Chepachet, RI
- Shaun Hicks, Morrisville, PA
- Matthew Williams, Provo, UT
- Bruce Dugger, Albany, OR
- Marc Ribaudo, Woodgridge, VA
- Kevin M. Kincaid, Indianapolis, IN
- Kevin Hill, Seattle, WA
- Patrick Dockens, Mesa, Arizona
- Lauren Franko, Piscataway, NJ
- Matt Baumann, Abq,NM
- Laurence Schorsch, Evanston, IL
- Mary Chambers, Davis, CA
- kai reed, putney VT.
- Marcia Huff, Holland, MI
- Carrie Braden, Portage la Prairie, MB
- Barb Duncan, Jefferson City, MO
- J E Duncan, Boyce, LA
- Michael S. Levy, Centereach, N.Y.
- Clive Bramham, Bergen, Norway
- Luke Seitz, Falmouth, Maine
- Matt Pike, Lacey WA
- Tony Leukering, Brighton, CO
- Alan J. Knue, Seattle, WA
- Alex Vinokur, Casselberry, FL
- George Cresswell, Colorado Springs, CO
- José Luis Copete, Barcelona, Spain
- Jack Gibbons, Galena, IL
- Barb Robertson, Ottawa, Onario, Canada
- Ben Walters, Port Hope, Ontario
- Jeremy Faucher, Enfield Ct
- Steve Hampton, Davis, CA
- Nick Anich, Ashland, WI
- katherine Raspet, brooklyn, ny
- Graham Etherington, Norwich, UK
- Johanna Wielfaert, East Lansing, MI
- Casey Tucker, Columbus, OH
- Aaron Boone, Columbus, Ohio
- Zack Barrow, McDonald, TN
- Andy Bankert, Melbourne Beach, FL
- nell haberman, portland, Oregon
- Wes Serafin, orland park ,il
- Pierre Goulet, Wolfville, NS
- Nels F. Thompson, Owatonna, MN
- Arun Bose, Richmond, VA
- Ed Harper, Sacramento, CA 95841
- Tom Benson, San Bernardino, CA
- Ann Mcdonald, Calgary, Alberta
- Brian Ahern, Tampa, FL.
- Sarah DeViney, Jonesboro, AR
- Monte, Tustin, CA
- Tim Kalbach, Lexington, SC
- Cynthia Taylor, Tucson, AZ
- Melissa Hein, North Branch, MN
- Bill Schmoker, Longmont, Colorado
- Joan Campbell, Marinette, WI 54143
- Claire Curry, Greenwood, Texas
- Travis A. Mahan, Decatur, IL
- Jeff Hole, Orlando, FL
- Stephen Seiffert, Lansdowne, Ontario Canada
- Andrew Keaveney, Guelph, ON, Canada
- Jim Hulsey, Henderson, NV
- Roxanne Clark, Eugene, OR
- Manolo Mondejar, Taos,NM
- Kevin Welsh, Novi, Michigan
- Orrin Harvey, Tucson, AZ
- Jared Caster, Fulton NY
- Chase Choate, Wellpinit, WA
- Seth Cutright, West Bend, WI
- Petro Pynnönen, Helsinki, Finland
- Robert Mottershead, Philadelphia, PA
- Sam Galick, Flemington, NJ
- David Hollie, Ringgold, GA
- Jason McGuire, London, ON
- Roberto Cavalieros, Brooklyn, NY
- Francisco Martinez, Chicago, IL
- Kevin Kerr, Guelph, Ont
- Matthew Schneider, Silverton, OR
- Ben Wechsler, Snow Hill, Maryland
- Ethan Kistler, Newton Falls, Ohio
- Sandra Keller, Barrington, NJ
- Michael Woodruff, Spokane, WA
- Mike Burrell, Heidelberg, Ontario
- Phillip J. Kenny, Vienna, VA
- Andrew Sigerson, Sussex, NJ
- Myles Falconer, Peterborough, Ontario
- Sandra Lautrup, Effingham, Illinois
- Karl E. Mayer, Saint Clair Shores, Michigan
- Nicolas Halle, St-Nicolas,Quebec,Canada
- Gabe Johnson, Cherry Hill, NJ
- Seth Miller, Petaluma, CA
- David C. Smith, Owings Mills, MD
- Rob Poniatowski, Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
- David M Elwonger, Colorado Springs CO
- Greg Zupansic, Eugene, Oregon
- Rich Swartzentruber, Salem, Oregon
- Dan williams, Roseville, CA
- Karen Rubinstein, New York, NY
- Jacque Riese, Lincoln, NE
- Bryan Patrick, Woodland Park, CO
- James P. Smith, Amherst, MA
- Jim Gilbert, Bernardsville, NJ
- Francesc Jutglar, Cardedeu, Catalonia
- Robert Lengacher, Tallahassee, FL
- Harry Hooper, Tallahassee, Florida
- John Keagle, Hickory Corners, MI
- Carol Perry, Las Vegas, NV
- Marcus Mundall, Williamsport, MD
- Susannah Lerman, Amherst, MA
- Suzanne Feustel, Babylon, New York
- Lori Fujimoto, Colorado Springs, CO
- Elise Becker, Colorado Springs, CO
- Michael Mayer, Flushing, NY
- James McKay, Mesa, AZ
- Gary Bird, Maxeys, GA
- Robert Doster, Albuquerque, NM
- Corey Plank, Portland, OR
- Blue Rubinstein, New York, NY
- Charles Carlson, Ft. Peck MT
- James Lerner, Huntington, New York
- Steve Matthews, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
- Joe LoCicero, Huntington, New York
- Blake Mathys, New Brunswick, NJ
- Tim Hochstetler, Millersburg, OH
- Jim Kopitzke, Mesa AZ
- Liis Veelma, Winnipeg, MB
- Geoffrey A. Williamson, Chicago, IL
- Matt Anthony, Bel Air, MD
- Joel Mundall, Loma Linda, CA
- Craig Bateman, Novi, MI
- Dave Magpiong, Bellmawr, NJ
- Kyle Carlsen, Vincent, OH
- Glenn Werner, Beaufort S.C.
- Yves Gauthier, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Eddie Mundall, Klamath Falls, OR
- Laurina Mundall, Klamath Falls, OR
HOW DID YOU COMPARE?
As stated in the quiz rules, answers must consist simply of the Common or English name exactly as it appears in the ABA Checklist.
The list below shows that the highest number of answers submitted was for Great Black-backed Gull (180), followed by Herring Gull (23).
| Great Black-backed Gull |  | 180 |
| Herring Gull | | 23 |
| Western Gull | | 9 |
| Glaucous-Winged Gull | | 6 |
| Lesser Black-backed Gull | | 4 |
| Thayer's Gull | | 4 |
| Yellow-footed Gull | | 3 |
| California Gull | | 1 |
| Cory's Shearwater | | 1 |
| Flesh-footed Shearwater | | 1 |
| Glaucous Gull | | 1 |
| Pink-footed Shearwater | | 1 |
| Short-Tailed Shearwater | | 1 |
| Slaty-backed Gull | | 1 |
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The photo and answer for this quiz were supplied by Chris Wood.
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