Probable Hybrid Herring X Lesser
These photos were taken in early January 1996 at Hatteras. The bird was discovered by John Wright. Since the legs were clearly yellow and the mantle shade was about right, we initially had hopes that it might be a Yellow-legged Gull, but the headstreaking, head shape, and jizz are wrong for that species, as are the wings. Upon reflection, the shade of gray seemed wrong -- too much bluish tint. Then I thought that perhaps it was just an extremely pale graellsii, but I don't think so. It's too big and the head profile is wrong -- more like a Herring (i.e. smithsonianus). The wing pattern is not quite right for graellsii; there is too much gray on P9 (above). I am pretty sure that it really is a hybrid Herring X Lesser, presumably smithsonianus X graellsii.
The shots were taken in blinding sunlight on Echtachrome film -- ordinarily not a film that I use. That explains the greenish cast to the photos.
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