Ohio rare birds: Thayer's-like Herring Gull?
If you identify this as a Herring Gull what then do you make of the 1st year gull in the Stokes Field Guide to the Birds: Western Region - page 197. It is identified as a Thayer's Gull yet if anything has darker wing-tips than the bird below. It too shows the same degree of hooded appearance as the bird below. While that is thought to be uncharacteristic of Thayer's until much later in the season, Kaufman in Advanced Birding allows that some Thayer's can show a hooded effect earlier.
