Heuglin's Gull at Ravenna, first for NE Italy

During a visit at the Ravenna refuse dump on January 29, 2004, I was able to take a picture of this gull. At that moment I left the identifications as "putative" Heuglin's Gull Larus (fuscus) heuglini, having no experience with this taxon. Only now, after having visited the terrific photos taken by the Japanese ornithologists Osao and Michiaki Ujihara in Oman on January 2005, I'm quite sure about the right identification. So this is the first Heuglin's Gull for N Italy, while the first for Italy was found some years ago by Andrea Corso and others in Sicily. So, compare the Ravenna gull with this Heuglin's from the Ujihara album, photographed on January 12, 2005. According to me the two gulls are very similar, being both slightly dark-streaked with coarser dark spots or streaks on hindneck; moreover, both are showing in January a similar late moult. In this page, moreover, let's note in the firts gull the orange shade at the outer upper mandible, quite present also in the Ravenna gull. The same orange shade appears also in some other individuals featured in this page, and particularly in the third, forth, fifth and sixth pictures, being very evident in the latter. The seventh picture shows again another Heuglin’s very similar to the Ravenna gull. Finally, all the Heuglin’s of the Uijhara pages show an evident gonys-angle, being the same of the Ravenna gull.

19:29 - Saturday, January 28, 2006 - post comment