Xenornis

False alarm, folks. The supposed Belcher's Gull at Costa del Este is but a subadult Kelp Gull . Young Kelps, of course, have black on their tails. Euclides' photo of the bird shows it to be the same size as the adult Kelp Gull next to it, and that would not be right, as the average Belcher's is smaller than a Lesser Black-backed, and the average Kelp is larger than a Herring. That made us look at the Jan Axel photos more closely (and not just out of the envy of never seeing the bird after repeated tries). The bill looks too heavy and blunt for Belcher's, which would look "sharper", but just right for Kelp Gull. The final nail in this coffin is laid by Bob Ridgely: To me this looks like a subadult Kelp Gull, and not a Belcher’s (Band-tailed). Head shape and overall jizz is off, as is the leg color; Belcher’s typically has bright yellow legs when adult, which by plumage it would have to be. Also, no one would ever consider Belcher’s a “huge” gull. But I’ll...

[The bird in question was proven to be but a subadult Kelp Gull . Apologies] Euclides Campos and Ramiro Duque visited Costa del Este today and found not only the Belcher's Gull [sic], but an adult Kelp Gull , plus the third-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull first photographed at the end of february and a Herring Gull . In the photo above, the gull in front shows a white mirror on what we presume is P10 and a white tail, which could show it to be an adult Kelp Gull, while the one in the back may show a black tail and no mirrors on the tips of the primaries, but they're roughly the same size. A Belcher's Gull should be noticeably smaller, so maybe it's another Kelp. More details to come. And now more photos, labeled for your convenience. (Belcher's Gull [sic]) (Kelp Gull) (Lesser Black-backed Gull) As a bonus, he sent this photo of an unfortunate Yellow-breasted Crak e being devoured at Las Macanas Marsh on March 3, where he also found a group of Long-billed Dowitche...

[This bird has been proven to be but a subadult Kelp Gull . Apologies] Jan Axel Cubilla uploaded the photos of the Belcher's Gull [sic] he found in Costa del Este on Sunday afternoon to his blog . What immediately caught my attention was a huge dark-backed gull standing alone in the shoreline. It was considerably larger than the Laughing Gulls and than the Ring-billed Gull present, with a bulkier shape and heavy yellow bill tipped in black, followed by red (wider in the lower mandible). Dark eye. Pale yellow(ish) legs. Head and breast completely white, with no streaking. Sides of neck, flanks, belly and upper back white with diffuse dark spots. Back and wings black... blacker in the wings and with a brownish tinge in the back (specially with the bright light). The secondaries had wide white tips. I didn't see the tail while the bird was standing. I thought first it was a Kelp Gull, but then the bird took flight, showing a white rump contrasting with the mostly dark tail! It als...

Jan Axel Cubilla visited Costa del Este for this afternoon's high high tide and found a strange gull with the thousands of Laughing Gulls just east of the bridge. Originally thought to be a Kelp Gull, when it took flight it showed a lot of black in the tail, which could mean he saw a Belcher's Gull. We'll have to wait for his photos to be sure, but it would be a good idea to visit the area tomorrow for an even higher tide at 4:26 pm. [The bird in question was proven to be but a subadult Kelp Gull . Apologies] We waited for the tide to recede and the gulls to reassemble, but could not find the one we were looking for. We did see two or three Herring Gulls , a few Ring-billeds and a young Lesser Black-backed . The beach at Panamá Viejo had two Elegant Terns and a Long-billed Curlew .