nominate Lesser Black-backed Gull (L. f. fuscus)

(last update: 26-2-2011)

Coordinators:
Amir Ben Dov (Israel)
Hannu Koskinen (Finland)
Mars Muusse (the Netherlands)

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fuscus rings

fuscus 1cy July
fuscus 1cy Aug
fuscus 1cy Sept
fuscus 1cy Oct
fuscus 1cy Nov
fuscus 1cy Dec

fuscus 2cy Jan
fuscus 2cy Feb
fuscus 2cy March
fuscus 2cy April
fuscus 2cy May
fuscus 2cy June
fuscus 2cy July
fuscus 2cy Aug
fuscus 2cy Sept
fuscus 2cy Oct
fuscus 2cy Nov

fuscus 2cy Dec

fuscus 3cy Jan
fuscus 3cy Feb
fuscus 3cy March
fuscus 3cy April
fuscus 3cy May
fuscus 3cy June
fuscus 3cy July
fuscus 3cy August

fuscus 3cy Sept

fuscus 3cy October
fuscus 3cy Nov
fuscus 3cy Dec

fuscus 4cy Jan
fuscus 4cy Feb
fuscus 4cy March
fuscus 4cy April
fuscus 4cy May
fuscus 4cy June
fuscus 4cy July
fuscus 4cy Aug
fuscus 4cy Sept

fuscus 4cy Oct
fuscus 4cy Nov
fuscus 4cy Dec

fuscus ad Jan
fuscus ad Feb
fuscus ad March
fuscus ad April
fuscus ad May
fuscus ad June
fuscus ad July
fuscus ad Aug
fuscus unringed Aug
fuscus ad Sept
fuscus ad Oct
fuscus ad Nov
fuscus ad Dec

Larus fuscus fuscus 2cy, March 25 2011, Ashdod, Israel. Picture Amir Ben Dov.

Very interesting bird, revealing a bit of the moult startegy on the wintering grounds. One of the main questions regarding this moult is "How do 2cy fuscus manage to moult a complete cycle in such a short time?" Just have a look at the February section, to find birds largely in juvenile plumage (except the scapulars). Especially replacement of the large primaries takes several months in the complete moult in argentatus and graellsii in summer. Still, many 2cy fuscus appear with a complete set of 2nd gen primaries in Finland in May.
One explanantion could be that there are different birds involved. For instance, late moulting birds remain in Israel, while advanced 2cy fuscus migrate directly from Africa to N Europe. Another explanation could be an adjusted moult strategy, illustrated by this individual. If you start moulting primaries at two locations (Staffelmauser!) the moult cycle can be reduced in time.
Here, P1 is new, P2 is growing, P3 is missing, P4 is still juvenile, P5 is growing, P6-P10 still juvenile. Here you see a possible start of a double moult wave in the primaries. Moult in wing coverts and tertials follow a timing that is quite common in graellsii. The inner 5 greater coverts replaced and central gc growing, closing the gap in this tract. Juvenile wing-coverts can still be found in the carpal edge.
The tail seems to be completely renewed, but all secondaries are still juvenile.