‘Very rare’ American gull recorded at John O’Groats
A rare visitor from across the Atlantic has turned up in Caithness.
An American herring gull was recorded at John O’Groats on Monday this week.
Though it is a very rare visitor, records exist from Scrabster in 1999.
American herring gulls are large gulls with a distinctive white face, similar to other large gulls.
Formerly considered conspecific with our own European herring gull, it is now widely recognised as a separate species.
Large gulls typically take four years to reach maturity and most adult American herring gulls are considered indistinguishable from their European counterparts.
First year birds, on the other hand, can be distinctive to the trained eye, with their dark patterning, uniformly brown underparts and dark tail considered diagnostic when present in combination with a handful of other, more subtle, features.
Sightings usually only gain formal recognition by rarities committees if good quality photographs are available, hence many claims of the species remain unproven.