Hi Elizabeth,
Silver gulls are indeed common and very easy to identify, so birders don't give
them much attention. It is not necessarily easy to identify a similar vagrant
gull from overseas amongst them (say Red-billed or Black-billed from NZ,
Hartlaub's from Africa, Black-headed or Brown-headed from north, etc). If you
want to find and identify rare birds it is best to know the common birds really
well. Gulls are also great subjects for learning how plumages and moults work
because they are tame, easliy bribed, and their feathers are bigger than those
nervous little waders. It's not everone's cup of tea, so no to "should look at
Silver Gulls" and yes to "must look at Silver Gulls"!
David James,
Sydney
==============================
From: Elizabeth Shaw <>
To: Birding Aus <>
Sent: Tuesday, 5 July 2011 9:56 AM
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] (finally...) A gull with two mirrors, Wollongong
pelagic, 25/06/2011.
Does this mean I should be looking at Silver Gulls more closely? I thought
they were an easy bird to identify - and they're everywhere here!
Elizabeth Shaw
Phillip Island
Victoria
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