The Three Reno Gulls Mystery

Just how many different Lesser Black-backed Gulls have visited Reno in the past three years?

Click here to read discussion of the "Three Reno Gulls Mystery", by Martin Meyers (MS Word Document)

Comparison Photos

2009-121, 2008-108, and 2010-003 Comparison
All three photos copyright Steve Ting

2009-121, 2008-108, and 2010-003 Comparison
First and second photo copyright Martin Meyers, third photo copyright Steve Ting

2009-121, 2008-108, and 2010-003 Comparison
Photos copyright Martin Meyers

2008-108 and 2010-003 Comparison
Both photos copyright Martin Meyers

2009-121 in same frame as 2008-005
Photo copyright Dennis Ghiglieri
The second gull from right is 2008-005, the second gull from left is 2009-121.
2008-005 is not a consideration in the "Three Reno Gulls Mystery".
The photo is provided only to give some sense of size/structure differences between
2009-121, the second-cycle gull and the (rather typical) adult (2008-005) that appeared during the visit by 2009-121.

A few additional photos of 2008-108 and 2010-003. All photos copyright Martin Meyers

2008-108, 12/18/08, ventral, spread wings

2008-108, 12/18/08, dorsal, spread wings

2010-003, 1/7/10, underwing

2010-003, 1/7/10, upperwing

A large set of photos of 2009-121 is also available on this website.
That set was created during the year the bird was present.
That page can be reached from the "ID Issues/Rarities" page.
It is labeled
"Lesser Black-backed Gull, Second-cycle, Subspecies? Reno, NV, 1/2008"
Photos are by Dennis Ghiglieri, Greg Scyphers, and Martin Meyers.
Note: There's an additional link on this page to (better) photos by Steve Ting.

Click here to view the additional 2009-121 photos

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