Southern Black-backed Gull (juvenile)

Description:

Vastly different to the adults, this juvenile Karoro is "dark mottled brown with black bill and legs; their plumage lightens with age until they moult into adult plumage at 3 years old." (https://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/sou... )

Habitat:

Standing in the water near the sand at Smails Beach, Dunedin.

Notes:

There were many Black-backed Gulls and Red-Billed Gulls (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae scopulinus) flying, walking, floating, yelling in a big crowd that day! This is really cool! "Training and taming Black-backed gulls’ predatory nature has been put to good use. Māori trained them to eat the caterpillars that infested kūmara (sweet potatoes). Some birds became tame enough to follow people around, while others had their wings clipped to stop them flying away." (https://teara.govt.nz/en/gulls-terns-and... ) More interesting reading: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/black-back...