BIRD 1
A delightful winter scene: a big immature gull in the snow. Big? The bill is the real giveaway, being much deeper than on the small gulls and with a pronounced gonydeal angle. This is the angular point on the underside of the bill, near the tip and, generally, the less obtuse, the larger the gull (small gulls have an almost imperceptible , ‘flat’ bill base. Immature? The heavily spotted underparts and upperparts including the wings are typical of a younger gull. In fact, we can go further and say the well defined wing covert markings and underpart splodges and the lightly streaked head means this is a juvenile into first-winter gull. The contrastingly pale head and that very deep heavy bill confirm this gull is a first-winter Great Black-backed Gull.
KEY FEATURES
Very heavy bill, deep with a pronounced gonys
Pale head contrasting with darker back
Chunky, bulky, powerful build
Worn tertials, still show step down to primaries