gull with black head

[za64]

i saw a flock of approx 60 black headed gulls in winter plumage today, but one had a compleatly black head as if in its summer plumage.
are there any gulls that keep their black head in the winter?
alan

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by za64

i saw a flock of approx 60 black headed gulls in winter plumage today, but one had a compleatly black head as if in its summer plumage.
are there any gulls that keep their black head in the winter?
alan

Not usually as far as I'm aware- certainly all the species I'm familiar with that have a dark hood in breeding plumage lose most of it during non-breeding season, though Franklin's Gull has a half-hood effect in winter.

Gulls generally moult their head/body feathers twice a year compared to once for main flight/tail feathers. The moult pattern is controlled by hormones which may be influenced by factors such as daylength.

It's not unusual to see the odd Black-headed Gull in breeding plumage by late Jan, so yours may be a bit precocious; perhaps the hormones are a bit out of synch?

[Jason Green]

I recently saw a gull overhead like the one you described. See-
Lo-res, dark headed, barred tailed gull?

[Ukwildlifeo]

Ive seen some bh headed gulls in London with black heads already. Must be ahead of themselves

[mrs fish]

I have also seen one out of about a flock of 20 with a black head still, I am waiting to see if he looses his for the summer