Bonaparte Gull-at least I think it is

just getting started in bird photography, still learning to identify them. Using whatbird.com I narrowed this bird down repeatedly to just a few but never did the photos or images exactly match what I captured here. The closest choice is the Bonaparte gull, if someone knows better, would love to know. Any CC greatly appreciated.

I would think that it 'may also be' a Black-headed gull due to the more pronounced white ring around its eyes. Really though, it's hard to tell, and I am far from someone that actually knows these things...

Nice shot of a cool bird though, I have one of what I think is a black-headed gull, now, I'm not so sure. heheh

Randy

recrisp wrote in post #15799724
I would think that it 'may also be' a Black-headed gull due to the more pronounced white ring around its eyes. Really though, it's hard to tell, and I am far from someone that actually knows these things...

Nice shot of a cool bird though, I have one of what I think is a black-headed gull, now, I'm not so sure. heheh

Randy

thanks Randy! I will look up the "black headed gull"
That would be a great name for this bird, for the black head and white body is striking in appearance

recrisp wrote in post #15799724
I would think that it 'may also be' a Black-headed gull due to the more pronounced white ring around its eyes. Really though, it's hard to tell, and I am far from someone that actually knows these things...

Nice shot of a cool bird though, I have one of what I think is a black-headed gull, now, I'm not so sure. heheh

Randy

hey Randy, I checked out the black headed gull and it doesn't appear to be a match because of an all white tail, and not seen in Florida that I can tell from whatbird.com

come to think of it, the Bonaparte gull has a all white tail too, and this bird had white on the bottom and black tail from above.

So not sure what it is.

Anyone who can help?

The only other gull that I can find is the (breeding) Laughing Gull along the coast, and it's in your area.
The Bonaparte Gull and this one are the only two I can see that are there.

Hopefully someone that is more knowledgeable than me will come and help you out.

Randy

recrisp wrote in post #15801554
The only other gull that I can find is the (breeding) Laughing Gull along the coast, and it's in your area.
The Bonaparte Gull and this one are the only two I can see that are there.

Hopefully someone that is more knowledgeable than me will come and help you out.

Randy

thanks Randy, appreciate the help!

It's either a Laughing or Bonapartes Gull. One thing to look for is the color of it's bill. It's hard to tell the color of the bill from the shots but if it has a red bill it's a Laughing Gull. If a black bill, its a Bonapartes.
The amount of black on the under-wing has me leaning toward Laughing Gull.

txcanon wrote in post #15801675
It's either a Laughing or Bonapartes Gull. One thing to look for is the color of it's bill. It's hard to tell the color of the bill from the shots but if it has a red bill it's a Laughing Gull. If a black bill, its a Bonapartes.
The amount of black on the under-wing has me leaning toward Laughing Gull.

thanks Brad!

that is helpful, I will go through shots and see if can tell the bill color

appreciate it !

That is one wild looking bird, almost looks like a cartoon!

gen2roller wrote in post #15801856
That is one wild looking bird, almost looks like a cartoon!

they do kind of resemble what a cartoon penguin that could fly would look like

txcanon wrote in post #15801675
It's either a Laughing or Bonapartes Gull. One thing to look for is the color of it's bill. It's hard to tell the color of the bill from the shots but if it has a red bill it's a Laughing Gull. If a black bill, its a Bonapartes.
The amount of black on the under-wing has me leaning toward Laughing Gull.

sorry for being so late catching you all up to date

it turned out to have a red bill, though very DARK red, almost black, so wasn't sure for a while.

now feel it is indeed a Laughing Gull

not a bad bird Gull wise, it isn't much of a pain in the a** like most gulls