IMG_3678 Black-headed x Ring-billed hybrid Gull next to ring-billed
Mound Street Beach, Quincy, MA
After sharing this sighting with the MASSBird community and requesting their input to help ID, I was lucky enough to have David Sibley chime-in on the identity of the bird.
Here are his thoughts:
"This is a very interesting gull. Taken individually I think all of the odd aspects could be explained as the extremes of variation in Ring-billed. But all together on one bird it's hard to dismiss them, and I start thinking hybrid.
I agree that the most likely hybrid combination is Black-headed X Ring-billed.
Things like wing pattern fit very well, but bill and leg color do not.
I would vote for a backcross – a hybrid (Black-headed X Ring-billed) crossed with a Ring-billed. That seems to provide a full explanation for the appearance of the bird, and it's something that should be expected to show up given the number of Black-headed X Ring-billed hybrids that have been seen recently.
David Sibley
Concord, MA"
IMG_3678 Black-headed x Ring-billed hybrid Gull next to ring-billed
Mound Street Beach, Quincy, MA
After sharing this sighting with the MASSBird community and requesting their input to help ID, I was lucky enough to have David Sibley chime-in on the identity of the bird.
Here are his thoughts:
"This is a very interesting gull. Taken individually I think all of the odd aspects could be explained as the extremes of variation in Ring-billed. But all together on one bird it's hard to dismiss them, and I start thinking hybrid.
I agree that the most likely hybrid combination is Black-headed X Ring-billed.
Things like wing pattern fit very well, but bill and leg color do not.
I would vote for a backcross – a hybrid (Black-headed X Ring-billed) crossed with a Ring-billed. That seems to provide a full explanation for the appearance of the bird, and it's something that should be expected to show up given the number of Black-headed X Ring-billed hybrids that have been seen recently.
David Sibley
Concord, MA"