Birds in Spain Blog

On 12 July 2916, Willy Dekeiser found an odd, overall white gull, at Altea river, Algar, Alacant. See a photo above.  The gull was identified as a Yellow-legged Gull ( Larus michahellis ). Indeed it was at the beach with other individuals of the species and shared structure and size, therefore ruling out other vagrant options ( Larus hyperboreus, Larus glaucoides ) and  an aberrant Lesser Black-backed Gull ( Larus fuscus ). The bird was showing a normal pattern in the bare parts (yellow bill with red spot, yellowish legs, apparently 'normal' eye), thus ruling out an albino aberration. The bird d id not look entirely white but with a very pale grey mantle (matching in some way an adult Iceland Gull for example). It also seemed to present a dark (not black) tail band and perhaps dark primary tips, despite bare parts coloration remain unaltered.  The gull was certainly showing a plumage aberration, probably leucism, but the heavy light conditions of the photo