{"id":51126,"date":"2018-03-03T06:37:36","date_gmt":"2018-03-03T13:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51126"},"modified":"2024-11-24T08:48:35","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T14:48:35","slug":"winter-california-and-herring-gull-portraits-comparisons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/03\/winter-california-and-herring-gull-portraits-comparisons\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter California and American Herring Gull Portrait Comparisons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WinterWinter California Gull profile portrait – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

A few days ago I was able to take a few close up images of American Herring Gulls at Farmington Bay WMA<\/span><\/a> as they fed on dead carp at the four way area along with some Ring-billed and California Gulls. We have the Ring-billed and California Gulls in northern Utah year round but the American Herring Gulls are only winter visitors to this area. With these two profile portraits I can point out some of the differences in the orbital rings, gapes, gonydeal spots<\/span><\/a> and iris color to help with identification of these two species here in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

The California Gull above has a red orbital ring, an orange gape that will become redder in breeding plumage, large black and red gonydeal spots on the bill and and a dark iris. I photographed this gull in January in Salt Lake County, most of the the adult California Gulls I am seeing now are going into or have already molted into their breeding plumage.<\/p>\n

The nasal opening of this gull’s bill has a glob of something on it that would not normally be there.<\/p>\n

Note: California Gulls can occasionally have light colored irises so it is best to look at a combination of these features rather than just a single feature.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"WinterWinter American Herring Gull profile portrait – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/2000, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I photographed this Herring Gull the last day of February at Farmington Bay WMA. This American Herring Gull has a yellow orbital ring, a yellow gape, a red gonydeal spot with just a smudge of a black spot and a light colored iris.<\/p>\n

Note: American Herring Gulls can also have a small black gonydeal spot along with the red spot so it is best to look at a combination of these features rather than just a single feature. <\/em><\/p>\n

At first glance these portraits of the two gulls may look very similar but by looking at gapes, gonydeal spots,\u00a0iris color, and the orbital rings around the eyes the differences in those ID features between these two species stand out well for me.<\/p>\n

There are other differences between these two species including mantle color, size, bill size, weight, leg color, sub-terminal spots on their primaries and more. The larger species of gulls can take up to four years to obtain their adult plumage which makes ID and aging challenging.<\/p>\n

Some people see a gull and just think they are trash birds, me, I’m always happy to see and photograph gulls when I can, especially the gulls I only see for a short period of time during the winter.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my California Gull photos plus facts and information about this species. To view more of my American Herring Gull photos plus facts and information about this species click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I saw on Facebook where another photographer photographed a Franklin’s Gull at the WMA the same day I photographed this Herring Gull at Farmington Bay which is a bit early for Franklin’s Gulls, they typically start showing up in numbers towards the end of March and early April. I am anxious to see them again.\u00a0<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have the Ring-billed and California Gulls in northern Utah year round but the Herring Gulls are only winter visitors to this area. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1299,27,520,1022,697,709,26],"tags":[1589,4333,4982,6376,6375,6378,6379,3539,521,4230,4317,6377,5026,4046,6374],"class_list":["post-51126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-herring-gulls","category-avian","category-california-gulls","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-herring-gull","tag-california-gull","tag-comparison","tag-dark-iris","tag-gape","tag-gonydeal","tag-gonydeal-spot","tag-gull","tag-gulls","tag-larus-californicus","tag-larus-smithsonianus","tag-light-iris","tag-orbital-ring","tag-portrait","tag-profile-view"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-winter-mia-mcpherson-5451.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-diC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107838,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/08\/winter-california-and-herring-gull-comparison-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":51126,"position":0},"title":"Winter California And American Herring Gull Comparison In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I frequently get asked which is which I thought this would be a good time to do a winter California and American Herring Gull comparison and ID feature post.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Herring Gull - California Gull Comparison and ID Features, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/herring-california-gull-winter-adult-comparison-mia-mcpherson-0305.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/herring-california-gull-winter-adult-comparison-mia-mcpherson-0305.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/herring-california-gull-winter-adult-comparison-mia-mcpherson-0305.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/herring-california-gull-winter-adult-comparison-mia-mcpherson-0305.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64254,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/13\/herring-gulls-at-farmington-bay-wma\/","url_meta":{"origin":51126,"position":1},"title":"American Herring Gulls At Farmington Bay WMA","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I like gulls. I love to photograph gulls. I enjoy watching gulls in flight, on the ground, and fighting over food. I just do. I'm proud to be a gull enthusiast.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Herring Gull standing on a dead carp, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-mud-carp-mia-mcpherson-1247.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-mud-carp-mia-mcpherson-1247.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-mud-carp-mia-mcpherson-1247.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-mud-carp-mia-mcpherson-1247.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":77148,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/03\/winter-herring-gulls-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":51126,"position":2},"title":"Winter American Herring Gulls In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Winter Herring Gulls have arrived in northern Utah and I am excited that I will have opportunities to photograph this gull species again.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter adult American Herring Gull portrait, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5324.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5324.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5324.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5324.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42938,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/11\/01\/herring-gulls-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":51126,"position":3},"title":"American Herring Gulls in Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We do see Herring Gulls in northern Utah during the winter and I was able to photograph this one as it circled over the water with the snow-covered Promontory Mountains and sky behind it.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Herring Gull flying over Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-flight-utah-mia-mcpherson-8261.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-flight-utah-mia-mcpherson-8261.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-flight-utah-mia-mcpherson-8261.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/herring-gull-flight-utah-mia-mcpherson-8261.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119542,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/06\/herring-gull-in-flight-close-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":51126,"position":4},"title":"American Herring Gull In Flight Close Up","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Three years ago today, I drove the auto tour loop at Bear River MBR alone. One of the birds I photographed that winter morning was this close-up adult Herring Gull in flight.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter American Herring Gull in flight close up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/herring-gull-winter-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/herring-gull-winter-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/herring-gull-winter-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/herring-gull-winter-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100028,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/16\/herring-gull-walking-on-ice\/","url_meta":{"origin":51126,"position":5},"title":"American Herring Gull Walking On Ice","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I photographed this Herring Gull walking in ice from the auto tour loop at Bear River MBR on a bright but chilly sunny morning.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Herring Gull walking on ice at Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/herring-gull-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0320.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/herring-gull-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0320.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/herring-gull-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0320.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/herring-gull-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-0320.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}