Nikolas...When I visited NZ last year the first thing that struck me was a
difference in the quality of the red colour in the bill and legs. Does
HANZAB mention anything about this? It's difficult to quantify, but I'm sure
I wasn't imagining it, and my photos bear it out. I would say RBG has a
brighter, more crimson colour on the bill and legs.
Cheers Steve Murray
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Nikolas Haass
Sent: Tuesday, 28 June 2011 9:38 AM
To: ; Birding-Aus
Subject: Gulls and Terns in Sydney
Mark et al.,
If you happen to check out large Silver Gull flocks it may be a good idea to
check carefully for Red-billed Gull(s). I think the lack of records for SG
in NZ and RBG in OZ is rather due to neglect than to actual lack of these
taxa.
This past Saturday during SOSSA's Wollongong pelagic we had hundreds of
Silver Gulls with us all they way out to the shelf break and back. Several
times I got glimpses of a bird/birds with reduced white and more black in
the primary tips. Tony Keene was able to take a few pictures of a gull with
only two white mirrors. I haven't had the time yet to carefully analyze the
pictures butI had a quick skim through the HANZAB Silver Gull chapter (they
treat scopulinus as a subspecies of novaehollandiae). I
wasn't able to find much on ID of adult birds. They say that juv. RBGs
have a dark subterminal band to the tail whereas SGs don't. Maybe I
missed information because I didn't have a proper read.Hadoram Shirihai's
Antarctic Wildlife book treats them as two species: SG
usually three mirrors (but sometimes two!)/RBG two mirrors, SG paler
than RBG, SG longer-billed and more slender-billed, SG slightly larger
than RBG and the wing measurements were slightly different, too.
Not sure how to tell a two-mirrored SG with certainty from a RBG in the
field!
Cheers,
Nikolas
----------------
Nikolas Haass
Sydney, NSW
________________________________
From: "" <>
To: Birding-Aus <>
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 9:07 AM
Subject: Gulls and Terns in Sydney
G'day everyone,
Can anyone point to some sites in and around Sydney that are great places
for seeing Terns? I've spent some time at Longy and have seen plenty of
Crested Terns there, with the odd Little, Caspian and White-fronted Terns
seen from time to time, but would also like to know if there are other
places in and around Sydney that are more reliable places to see these and
other Tern species.
I have planned a trip up to Newcastle, and also to Nowra in the next couple
of weeks to look for other Terns too, so any help in finding some Terns in
those areas, or places along the way would also be very much appreciated.
Also, I'm interesting in knowing if there are any places around Sydney where
Silver Gulls can be reliably seen en masse, or if there are any known
breeding colonies in Sydney. I'm hoping to find a place that might have
hundreds of birds if that is possible. I remember seeing a couple breed at
Homebush a few years ago, but not since. HANZAB mentions that they breed
around Mascot. Would this still be correct?
Any help is much appreciated.
Regards,
Mark
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