{"id":44007,"date":"2016-12-19T06:43:29","date_gmt":"2016-12-19T13:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=44007"},"modified":"2025-05-23T12:42:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T17:42:32","slug":"eye-color-variation-in-california-gulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/12\/19\/eye-color-variation-in-california-gulls\/","title":{"rendered":"Eye Color Variation in California Gulls"},"content":{"rendered":"

The typical eye color for California Gulls is a very dark brown that appears almost black in most cases but there can be variations in their eye color.<\/p>\n

\"CloseClose up showing eye color variation in a California Gull – Nikon D500, f10, 1\/1000, ISO 200, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I was inside a vehicle photographing other birds when I saw this California Gull walk up close and when I focused on it to take a few portraits of the gull I noticed its unusual eyes. They remind me of polished Onyx or Snowflake Obsidian with flecks of light grays and sparkles of white in the stone.<\/p>\n

\"CaliforniaCalifornia Gull close up in nonbreeding plumage – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a California Gull with typical dark eyes taken at the same pond the day before I photographed the one with the unusual eyes. There are no flecks of lighter colors in its eyes.<\/p>\n

\"EyeEye color variation in a California Gull – Nikon D500, f10, 1\/800, ISO 200, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This image shows the left eye of the California Gull I photographed yesterday that shows both eyes have the variation in eye color but the pattern of the flecks and sparkles is a bit different than it is in the right eye.<\/p>\n

I have seen this eye color variation a few times before but these close up portraits show the variation much better than other images I have taken of California Gulls with different eye colors.<\/p>\n

\"California<\/p>\n

California Gull close up in December – Nikon D500, f11, 1\/800, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This is another close up taken two days ago showing a California Gull with normal colored eyes. Eye color in California Gulls does not change during breeding season and remains the same throughout their lives so the bird I photographed yesterday will have those sparkling eyes for the rest of its life.<\/p>\n

I guess sometimes it pays to keep an eye out for subtle variations in the birds I photograph. Sorry for the pun! (Not really)<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The typical eye color for California Gulls is a very dark brown that appears almost black in most cases but there can be variations in their eye color.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[27,520,709,26],"tags":[4004,4333,4142,5505,5567,5568,3539,521,4230,4246,4046,373,5480],"class_list":["post-44007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-california-gulls","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-california-gull","tag-close-up","tag-eye-color","tag-eye-color-variation","tag-eye-color-variations","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-larus-californicus","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-portrait","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