Dick & Jean Hoffman - the local bird scene - Iceland Gull

A view of the open wings of this bird show the typical pattern in the primaries

The photo on the left shows the bird on the water with Herring Gulls. The pattern of the primaries is again shown to be pale with gray or black outer webs and markings quite unlike the Herring Gulls. The Iceland Gull has a small, rounded head and small bill. The bill is bright yellow with the red spot and the head is totally unstreaked. The eye color is yellowish, but probably not the bright, clear yellow of the Herring Gulls. Not apparently a typical feature, this bird was easy to relocate on the water because of the broad white trailing edge of the secondaries which is also noticeable in the flight shots. We did not think the mantle shade was lighter than the surrounding birds when we saw it, but the pictures tend to make it look lighter. These photos are from scanned images of the original slides and have not been altered other than to reduce their size. All photos copyright © 2005 Dick Hoffman, all rights reserved

Another view on the water with Herring Gulls

A different look at the wings of this Iceland Gull

A last view of the wings and the pristine white tail