Wednesday 1 March 2017

Difference Between A Common and Herring Gull

Once again these images were taken on the shores of Strangford Lough. CLICK HERE and HERE if you missed the information and photographs on that. 


Today, I am showing you the difference between the Common gull (1st shot) and the Herring gull (last shot).The middle shot  has both gulls in it.  People sometimes struggle with seeing the differences and when they are all together that is true.  The CG has a much smaller build (16–18 in) long and beak and has NO red of the beak but has a red eye.   His legs are pale greenish/yellow.  

On the other hand, the HG is much  larger (24–26 in) long.  The bill is yellow with a red spot and there is a ring of bare yellow skin around the pale eye. The legs are normally pink at all ages. You can see that their back plumage is quite similar.  


There are other differences of course, however i think I have given you enough information for you to be able to ID these gulls apart.  


                  Thank you for your visit and also your kind comments.

8 comments:

  1. The red spot on the bill is a give away. Thank you for the ID tips.

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  2. We have Common Gulls here too and Vega Gulls (very similar to Herring Gulls). When together the size difference is very noticeable..........

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  3. I seem to be surrounded by Gulls, but they are all the same. I wish I had different versions to look at. These are nice shots, Margaret and good information which I hopefully will have a chance to use someday. Hope all is well with you. I have been overwhelmed by the nasty politics in my country and haven't felt like doing very much. I am working on getting back on track. Learning to Meditate :) That takes me right out of the mess into a quiet place. If you don't already, you should try it :) Be Well ...

    Andrea @ From The Sol

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  4. Hello Margaret!
    Beautiful are your photos.
    Hugs and greetings.

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  5. Yes, I can see each difference that you are saying! We have a few gulls around here, maybe now I can tell which one they are!

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  6. I like gulls---- To me they are the cats of the bird world.

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  7. I am working to be able to pick up on all the minute differences.

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  8. Thanks for showing us the differences. It's always interesting to me to see differences in birds.

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