West Andalucia (Spain) (michahellis - Mediterranean Yellow-legged Gull)

Mantle: paler and a more wane less blue tinge of grey.

Size: much larger and less compact in direct comparison.

Structure: boxy heads, long heavy bill, with blunt tip, sturdy long legs equal to height of body above.

Primaries: 80% of adults show a white tip to P10 (perhaps inflated by wear), 35% a mirror on P9, 67% a broad band on P5 and 38% a spot on P4. Differences from the Dark form are that relatively more show a mirror on P9, a white tip to P10 and a broad bar on P5.

Bare parts: the gonys spot: was a not very strong orange-red. The legs were a pale yellow with a slight orange tint; The feet were yellow. The bills were a rather washed-out yellow.

Calls: mew like deep graellsii, long is deeper than graellsii and hoarser (more guttural).

Moult in adults: from P5/P6 to P7/P8 with the latter the most frequent state (46%). The state is similar to that for adults of the other forms in the area. Most (60%) showed brown speckles over the forehead and the rest of the head (not neck); the remainder were often fairly white still.

Direct Comparison with the Dark Atlantic form: The Atlantic form showed: yellow-ochre legs (more ochre than pale yellow); shorter legs (2/3 body, not 1/1 body, similar in length to graellsii); darker mantle, blue-grey tinge to mantle (not wane grey); more mottled on front of head (not fine speckles); more compact appearance; rounded head (not boxy); much smaller size (slightly bigger than graellsii); tamer appearance (kept in group while michahellis left). No calls, an obvious further difference, were heard from the Atlantic form but the Mediterranean birds gave typical deep mew calls and deep guttural long calls.

First-years: sample sizes are small; juveniles of this form do not show heavy markings on breast and belly, show quite white heads (except for the eye spot) and are less grey-brown than the Dark Atlantic form with 63% having a ruddy tinge. The bills appear to be always all black. The upper tail appears to be always a bright white. The pale primary panel is usually indistinct (67% of cases). The tertials show bold white tips rather than the narrow pale fringe usually shown by the Dark form. First-summers/second-winters are often rather washed-out but with black bill and straw-coloured legs.

Moult in first-summers: some are still moulting P9/P10.

Second-years: show yellow bills with a dark band, creamy legs (less yellow than on most adults) and retain some sparse mottling on the side of the breast.

Comment: the Yellow-legged Gulls found at the marshes, lagoons and marismas of south-west Spain are virtually indistinguishable in size, structure and calls from the Mediterranean Yellow-legged Gulls in south-west France and in the main part of the Mediterranean. Bermejo (1999) says "the recently formed colonies of Cádiz and Huelva are excluded [as Iberian Atlantic Yellow-legged Gulls] as these were formed by Yellow-legged Gulls from the Mediterranean". Bermejo (2001) added that the Cádiz area population is now 500 pairs and increasing westwards. Earlier Ruiz & Solis,(1984) indicated breeding started of Mediterranean Yellow-legged Gulls in salinas in the Cádiz area c1980.