Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus), Roosevelt Lake, Gila County

This Lesser Black-backed Gull was found by Caleb Strand and Tommy DeBardeleben on 14 November 2019 and photographed by Caleb Strand upon discovery. Note that this report is from 2019!

Lesser Black-backed Gull, an Old World species, has increased in abundance dramatically in the last two decades (or more) in N. America. Arizona recorded its first record in 2006 and it has been found nearly annually in the state since then.

Juvenile bird. White, lightly barred upper tail coverts that contrast with a blackish tail band, the blackish remiges lacking a strongly paler panel on the inner primaries and the dark bar to the base of the greater coverts. All dark, slender bill and long wings.

14 November 2019, photo by Caleb Strand