Armenian Gull

Description:

A large white-headed gull, reaching some 60cm in length and some 130-140cm in wingspan. In a large group of Larus gulls would probably pass unnoticed because quite similar - bright white body with slate-grey back and yellow legs and feet. The main difference is the shape of bill, which is quite short and stout, with a blackish band near the tip; and darker eyes. In regards to size, the Armenian Gull is slightly smaller than, for example, Herring or Yellow-legged Gull or other species from Herring Gull complex... but sticking out like a sore thumb in a large group of some 150-200 Black-headed Gulls (pic No 4), due to its size.

Habitat:

I counted some 6 or 7 individuals, in the midst of a large colony of black-headed gulls (that one was impossible to count, but I would expect some 175-200 individuals), observed by some 15-20 cormorants. All these was seen on river Kura, in urban setting of T'bilisi.

Notes:

1) I was hoping for some lifers here, and have gotten my treat - even though I was not expecting the Armenian Gull... truth to be told, I was not even aware of this species before this trip to Georgia - so, in a way, mission accomplished, I got my 'lifer' and learn about this beautiful gull while roaming through this beautiful country. 2) I find the everchanging classification of gulls rather complicated and sometimes troubled, and Wikipedia provides a rather insightful related history here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_h.... To cut the story short, the Armenian Gull (just like the Caspian and Yellow-legged gulls), was formerly classified as a subspecies of the European herring gull (L. argentatus). Today, all three are treated as full species, even though the BirdLife International lumps Armenian gull together with the Yellow-legged (L. michahellis).