Slaty-backed Gull at Johnson Landing, Salton Sea, Imperial County, 21 February 1998. Special thanks to Don DesJardin for providing the scans. Click here for Matt's detailed account.

Additionally Matt wrote "I would just add the following caveats (as the pictures are a bit misleading).

  1. The mantle was not that dark. As good as that color looks for Slaty-backed Gull, note how dark the Herrings are. We felt our bird to be more like a graellsii Lesser Black-backed Gull (whereas the photos look almost like fuscus).
  2. The nape streaking, very evident on some pics (which I should also send), are washed away entirely on the pics you have)."

Photos copyright © 1998 by Matt Heindel