{"id":136849,"date":"2024-11-15T02:44:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T08:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=136849"},"modified":"2024-11-14T16:09:59","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T22:09:59","slug":"my-arkansas-american-herring-gull-sighting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/15\/my-arkansas-american-herring-gull-sighting\/","title":{"rendered":"My Arkansas American Herring Gull Sighting"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past week, I had my first ever Arkansas American Herring Gull sighting. I was outdoors when several of these gulls were high overhead, too high for photos.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Herring Gull in nonbreeding plumage flying by – Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah – January 2020
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only were the 6\u20137 gulls too high, but they were also in extremely bright light, making them hard to see. I was able to see enough key features to identify them as American Herring Gulls.<\/p>\n

Like the gull in the photo above, taken in Utah in 2020, the small flock of American Herring Gulls I saw here were in nonbreeding plumage.<\/p>\n

Now, about the name changes for this gull species.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2024, ornithologists reclassified the Herring Gull, a bird widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, into four distinct species: American Herring Gull, European Herring Gull, Mongolian Gull, and Vega Gull.<\/p>\n

American Herring Gulls<\/span><\/a> breed in Canada and the U.S., migrating south to Central America during the nonbreeding season.<\/p>\n

The scientific name for this North American species also changed from Larus argentatus<\/i> to Larus smithsonianus<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I’ll need to change the common and scientific names on my posts and in my galleries for this species, and I will when I have time.<\/p>\n

I’m aware that some people wouldn’t be as excited as I was to see gulls flying overhead on an autumn afternoon in Arkansas, but I was. I’m not some people. I simply can’t help myself; I really like gulls.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Herring Gull photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past week, I had my first ever Arkansas American Herring Gull sighting. I was outdoors when several of these gulls were high overhead, too high for photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1299,13950,124,27,1148,13951,26],"tags":[4004,1589,4052,4122,3983,3539,521,4064,4317,4094,4246,4095,373,5480],"class_list":["post-136849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-herring-gulls","category-arkansas","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-sebastian-county","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-herring-gull","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-frost","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-ice","tag-larus-smithsonianus","tag-marsh","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-wetlands","tag-winter","tag-winter-plumage"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t