Heuglin’s Gulls – Al Uqair

Whilst birding the Uqair in early November I went to an area of public beach where a few gulls have been seen in the last few years. Although initially there only appeared to be a few waders present we managed to locate six Large White-headed Gulls that appeared to be mainly Heuglin’s Gulls. One of the Heuglin’s Gulls was much darker plumaged than the others in the group but was not a Baltic Gull which would be even darker, typically showing no contrast between upperparts and primary ground colour. Heuglin’s Gull almost always shows extensive neck streaking and are in primary moult at this time of year. This is not the commonest Gull in Saudi Arabia, with about 8% to 10% of all LWHG being this taxon, with the majority being Steppe Gull.

Heuglin’s Gulls – Al Uqair

Whilst birding the Uqair area recently I went to an area of public beach where a few gulls were feeding on discarded food. There were many Slender-billed Gull but a few Large White-headed Gulls appeared to be mainly Heuglin’s Gulls. These birds appear in very fresh plumage as they breed later than other large gulls. Two of the Heuglin’s Gulls were much darker plumaged than the others in the group but were not Baltic Gull which would be even darker, typically showing no contrast between upperparts and primary ground colour. This subspecies almost always shows extensive neck streaking. This is not the commonest Gull in Saudi Arabia, with about 8% to 10% of all LWHG being this taxon.

Heuglin’s Gulls – Al Uqair

Whilst birding the Al Uqair area recently we went to an area of public beaches where I had previously seen some Large White-headed Gulls. My recent visits to the area had failed to turn up any but this time I saw seven birds on the ground together.  One was an adult Steppe Gulls and the remainder being Heuglin’s Gulls. Two of the Heuglin’s Gulls were much darker plumaged than the others in the group, however variation in upperpart coloration in heuglini is large and the late moult (p4-5 being renewed) support the identification, although a similar moult occurs in Baltic Gull which would be even darker, typically showing no contrast between upperparts and primary ground colour.

Heuglin’s Gulls - Uqair

Whilst birding the Uqair area recently we went to a new area where some public beaches have been constructed. There were very few people present as they have just been finished and it is winter so we thought we would look for waders and gulls. On arrival we saw a group of about fifteen gulls with a couple of Steppe Gulls and the remainder being Heuglin’s Gulls. A single juvenile gull was present that appeared in very fresh plumage, which is typical for heuglini until mid-winter (December  to January). It resembled a gull I had seen in Jizan at about the same time of year several years ago and that Klaus Malling-Olsen helped me identify as a juvenile Heuglin’s Gull. These birds appear in very fresh plumage even in December as they breed later than other large gulls and will often still be in full juvenile plumage or almost so, until January. There were a few dark grey-tinged new mantle feathers on the bird which further support its identification as a heuglini. Two of the Heuglin’s Gulls were much darker plumaged than the others in the group, however variation in upperpart coloration in heuglini is large and the late moult (p4-5 being renewed) support the identification, although a similar moult occurs in Baltic Gull which would be even darker, typically showing no contrast between upperparts and primary ground colour. 

Immature Heuglin’s Gull – Al Khobar

Whilst birdwatching Al Khobar recently I came across this interesting looking gull. It is most probably a second winter heuglini, based on greyish-tinged upperparts, which should be darker (black) in fuscus. The short bill and rounded head suggest a female, which jizz-wise is close to fuscus, but with the rounder head and heavier bill it appears closer to heuglini.Heuglin’s Gull is a regular winter visitor to the Eastenr Province of Saudi Arabia whereasfuscus is rare, but to exclude a fuscus (immature wintering to the north of the wintering range) completely is often not possible. It appears to be a second winter due to amount of black on the bill, pink-coloured legs and brown mottling on the wing feathers.

Heuglin’s Gull – Al Khobar

Whilst out looking for Large White-headed Gulls (LWHG) in late January we came across a small number on a beach in Al Khobar. The light was very poor due a large dust storm but I managed to take a few photos of at least two of the birds present. These birds were Heuglin’s Gulls Larus (fuscus/heuglini) heuglini which is not the commonest Gull in Saudi Arabia, with about 8% to 10% of all LWHG being this taxon. On geographic grounds, anyone encountering birds with mid to dark grey upperparts in Saudi Arabia (birds paler than the fuscus but slightly darker than the barabensis that also commonly winter in the Kingdom) can be reasonably confident with their identification as heuglini.

·      Large gull often bulky looking, although smaller slender birds do occur

·      The upper-part grey tone is normally much darker than cachinnans & barabensis and slightly darker than armenicus, being slate grey in heuglini making it the darkest of all Saudi Arabian large gulls with the exception of fuscus

·      Normally show extensive head streaking in mid-winter, most concentrated on the hind-neck, but sometimes continues on the side-neck, creating a collar of fine streaks. Nape and back of the head often show brown spots or drops until late January after which the nape becomes whiter and more faintly streaked.

·      Many birds show a fierce facial expression, accentuated by the dark head streaking and relatively steep forehead.

·      Bill is slender and long without an obvious gonydeal angle and with the gonys spot being orange-red, not as deep coral red as in western LBBG taxa. The orange to red gonys spot often does not reach the upper mandible. The base of bill is sometimes a bit flesh-coloured, but can be brighter yellow on some birds. There are often dark markings on the bill more prominent than on other LWHG, at the tip, often on both mandibles and sometimes a complete bill-band in winter. 

·      Has narrow triangular nostrils

·      Legs are long and thick, often straw yellow, sometimes a bit flesh-coloured, but can be brighter yellow on some birds occasionally with fleshy tinge often on the feet.

·      Eye is normally pale yellow with a red orbital ring, sometimes orange (5%). Rarely the eye is dark flecked giving a dark eyed impression.

·      Black on primaries usually to P5 & P4 and sometimes to P3, showing medium amount of black on the wingtip for a Saudi Arabian LWHG. Normally shows a large white mirror on P10 & often a smaller mirror on P9 with clear contrast between black of wingtips and rest of upperparts.

·      Late moult timing of the primaries. They often have the outer primaries still growing in January and February (moult sequence they share with nominate fuscus). In contrast the primary moult of armenicus, cachinnans & barabensis is normally finished by December, and the primary tips can already show some wear by this time, unlike the new primary tips shown by heuglini.

Sub-adult birds normally show similar plumage to adult birds, although a number of birds show immature features such as a presence of broad dark centres to the greater primary coverts with the centres broad brownish-black and the tips pale whitish. Other indicators may be some black still be apparent in the rectrices and an obviously broad bill band. These features can also be shown on some adult birds as well, however, so aging often not possible with 100% certainty.

Juvenile Heuglin´s Gull – Jizan Corniche

I took this photo in Jizan, southwest Saudi Arabia in December of a fresh-plumaged gull in juvenile plumage. I thought it could be a Baltic Gull, but the fresh plumage alerted me to the fact it could be something different. As a result, I sent the photo to Klaus Malling Olsen for his comments. He very kindly replied with the following: Baltic is jizzwise different to this bird in showing longer wings and a smaller head, slenderer body and finer bill. The juvenile plumage of Baltic is kept, or almost kept, until birds reach their wintering quarters, so I would expect a Baltic Gull in December not to appear so fresh-plumaged. This indicates a more northerly, Arctic origin of the bird suggesting Heuglin´s Gull. This taxa, is a long-distant migrant, keeping their juvenile plumage on autumn migration, as Baltic do, and start to moult at their arrival to the winter quarters. Heuglin´s Gull breeds very late, at least a month later than Baltic, resulting in very crisp and fresh-looking juvenile well into December, at a time where I suspect most Baltics to appear more worn. There are also other characters leading towards Heuglin´s Gull: the rather big head and bill and compared to Baltic, shorter wing-projection behind the tail. Also, the brown-tinged plumage is more in line with Heuglin´s Gull, being brownish-tinged, whereas most Baltics would have appeared colder blackish-brown in dark parts. The full broad edges to the mantle and scapulars is again a more striking feature against the narrower edges in Baltic, as well as more extensive pale pattern in greater coverts, so all in all, the bird show more characters of Heuglin´s Gull in my opinion (in an always very complex chapter in gull ID).

Several different Gull species – Jizan

Whilst bird watching in Jiazan in April 2014 I came across various different species of Gull. This site is in the southwest of Saudi Arabia and is on the Red Sea coast and is a favoured location for White-eyed Gulls and Sooty Gulls. The best place to see White-eyed Gull is the fish market area and the nearby small fishing harbor where they gather in good numbers to scavenge fish waste. When we arrived about 30 White-eyed Gulls and 10 Sooty Gulls were sitting on the rooftops and we spent about an hour trying to photograph the birds in flight. Most White-eyed Gulls were adults but at least two second calendar year birds were also present. The species has a restricted world range confined almost entirely to the Red Sea and is a spectacular bird. Sooty Gulls have a slightly wider range and are more common but are still difficult to see away from the Red Sea. Other gulls included small numbers of Slender-billed Gulls as well as a few Heuglin's Gulls, one Armenian Gull and several Baltic Gulls. Most of these were scattered along the coast, in the fishing harbor or up the main inlet from the sea.

White-eyed Gull - adult summer

White-eyed Gull - second calendar year

Sooty Gull

Slender-billed Gull

Baltic Gull

Heuglin's Gull

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Tricky Gulls – Al Khobar

A couple of tricky gulls, identification wise, were seen at Al Khobar recently. One I have already posted that looked like a Caspian Gull but was most probably a Steppe Gull. A second bird is shown here – it is difficult to work out if this gull is a Heuglin’s Gull Larus heuglini or a Steppe Gull Larus barabensis. The bird is not quite in adult plumage and has fleshy coloured legs as well as a very large bill, darkish upper-parts colouration but appears to have well grown primaries. I have included a couple of photos of the two species of gull this may be to compare with, although the two pictures show birds in adult plumage rather than sub-adult as the tricky bird. As always in birding it is best to leave some birds as unidentified rather than put a name to it which may be wrong.

Heuglin's or Steppe Gull - sub adult

Heuglin's Gull

Steppe Gull

3rd Calendar Year Heuglin’s Gull – Al-Khobar Corniche

The site for Large White-headed Gulls (LWG) along Al-Khobar Corniche has been destroyed and is now a car park. The new lighting that has been erected for the area has proved to be a good area for the gulls to sit on. The bigger and more aggressive birds have taken the prime sites with most birds being adults Heuglin’s Gulls. A couple of 3rd Calendar Year Heuglin’s Gulls have also been present and I have been trying to get a few photographs of the birds as this is not an age that is commonly seen, let alone been photographed here in Saudi Arabia. The best shots I have managed so far are presented below with a poor photo of a bird in flight showing the dark tail band and lack of primary mirrors on P10 & P9. Other features showing the age of the bird are the dark tipped bill, mantle colour and the head spotting. The makeup of the LWG flock has changed over the winter with the majority of birds now being Caspian Gulls (40%) and Steppe Gulls (40%) with Heuglin’s Gulls making up the remainder (20%). These LWG will be returning to their breeding areas soon and will not return until August – September.

Gull numbers increasing – Abqaiq Landfill

On the way back from Shedgum Escarpment we called into the Abqaiq Landfill site in the hope of seeing an unusual gull or two. The number of birds had built up since my last visit and now number approximately 5000 birds. As we arrived at about 10:30 hrs the majority of birds were sitting in their favoured resting area, which unfortunately you cannot get close enough to, to photograph them at. The area is viewable with a telescope and although there were thousands of birds we could not find anything out of the usual. We did locate an extremely dark bird which was back on and looked like it maybe a Baltic Gull but when it turned around slightly it was a dark Heuglin’s Gull. Despite all the searching of gulls in the local area I have still not found a Baltic Gull yet. The majority of the Large White-headed Gulls were Steppe Gull (70%) with Caspian Gull (15%) and Heuglin’s Gull (15%). Hundreds of Common Black-headed Gulls were also present. The only other bird of note was a fly over Black-crowned Sparrow Lark.

Caspian Gull

Caspian Gull

Steppe Gull

Steppe Gull

Heuglin's Gull