Great Black-backed Gull in St. Louis County
2010-10-09

'Rare Regular' in Minnesota

Juvenile Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) on both sides of the Minnesota-Wisconsin state line at the Superior Entry, 9 October 2010. Note the shape of its large, all black bill, its mostly whitish head, neck, and underparts with sparse grayish-brown streaking, its white vent and under tail-coverts showing narrow dark bars, and its wide but "watered down" terminal tail band. The pale panel in the inner primaries is accentuated in this image due to backlighting. This represents the 4th earliest fall date for Minnesota, following a 2nd-cycle bird at Duluth 3 September - 3 October 1976 (Loon 48:176), an adult near the Superior Entry 8 September 2007 (Loon 80:72), and a 4th-cycle bird at the Superior Entry 4 October - 7 November 2009.

Peder H. Svingen