eritrea dec2014 near Massawa (1 Viewer)

[Ian Silvester]

Lesser black backed or Hueglin gulls ?

 

[Andy Hurley]

Heuglin's for me, but wait for the experts to wade in.

 

[lou salomon]

yes, heuglin's gulls. note the apparent differences in mantle colour, mostly produced by position towards the photographer (as usual, foreshortened angle makes the mante appear darker in large gulls). the strong bill (esp. in the almost black appearing birds in pics 1 and 3), the dark eye mask, pigmented iris (in the 2nd pic) all are good pointers. note that the bird in pic 3 has still old p10 (and p9?) - such a suspended moult is possible in either baltic gull and heuglini.