nominate Lesser Black-backed Gull (L. f. fuscus)

(last update: 22-12-2009)

Larus fuscus fuscus 4+cy male J0R1, June 18 2005 & July 27 2008, Svartskjeran - Ibestad, Troms, Norway & February 27 2009, Ashdod, Israel. Pictures: Morten Helberg & Amir Ben Dov.

below: L f fuscus 4+cy male J0R1, June 18 2005, Svartskjeran - Ibestad, Troms, Norway. Picture: Morten Helberg.

J0R1, perfect illustration of jet-black adult male nominate fuscus, breeding on Svartskjeran near Ibestad, county Troms in northern Norway. This small colony (maximum 10 breeding pairs) contains a pure population of such dark fuscus birds. Complete moult still not started by mid-June and mid-July. Also included on this page: map with location, see below.

More information about migration strategies in Norwegian fuscus and the ringing programme in the three northern counties of Norway: Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, can be found here: The summary for juveniles can be found in the fuscus 1cy October section, the summary for adults can be found in the fuscus adult October section.
Morten Helberg, Geir Systad, Ingve Birkeland, Nils Lorentzen & Jan Bustnes published an article about this research in Ardea 97, 2009, titled: Migration patterns of adult and juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus from northern Norway. The complete PDF can be found HERE.

below: L f fuscus 4+cy male J0R1, July 27 2008, Svartskjeran - Ibestad, Troms, Norway. Picture: Morten Helberg.

J0R1 by late July, primary moult still not started.

L f fuscus male J0R1, February 27 2009, Ashdod, Israel. Picture Amir Ben Dov.

Primary moult probably finished, but hard to interpret from this single picture. P8 with a small white tip, P9 lacking a tip and a mirror, P10 maybe growing?

Below: map showing the eastern migration route followed by this individual, a strategy described for nominate fuscus by Kilpi and Suarola in 1984.