Memorandum to: The Director of Birds Australia

From: Birds Australia Rarities Committee (BARC)

Date: 15^th January 2007

Voting Members: Rohan Clarke Tony Palliser

Mike Carter Andrew Silcocks

John Hatch Danny Rogers

Niven McCrie Jamie Matthew

cc.

Submission No 475: Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus at Darwin, 19^th February 2006. Submitted by: Peter Fuller

Verdict: Accepted

This case involves the sighting of an adult Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus found associating with Silver Gull L. novaehollandiae, at the mouth of the Buffalo Creek, Darwin, NT on the 19th February 2006. The bird had apparently been present for some time and there is a reasonable chance that this may be the same individual that was present a year earlier at the same locality (see BARC Case No. 456).

The dark reddish bill, legs and feet combined with a black head extending from the chin to the nape eliminates the more regular Australian species and the grey wings combined with black primaries together with the white neck, underparts and rump help to separate the bird from other dark-headed species. The submission relies heavily on photographic evidence, which supports the identification unequivocally.

Members voted unanimously in favour of acceptance. This is the 5^th record to be confirmed by BARC and continues a trend of sightings from northern Australia.

Bibliography :

• Barrett, G., Silcocks, A., Barry, S., Cunningham, R. & Poulter, R. (2003), The New Atlas of Australian Birds, Royal Australian Ornithologists Union, Melbourne.
• Cramp, S. (1983), The Birds of the Western Palearctic, Vol. 3, Waders to Gulls, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• Grant, P.J. (1982), Gulls, a guide to identification Poyser, Calton, Staffordshire.
• Higgins, P.J. & Davies, S.J.J.F., (1996), Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds, Vol. 3, Snipe to Pigeons, Oxford, Melbourne.
• McCrie, N. & McCrie, T., (1999), ‘Sight Records of a Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus in the Northern Territory’ Australian Bird Watcher, 18:87-92.
• McCrie, N. & Watson, J. (2003), Finding Birds in Darwin, Kakadu and the Top End, NT Birding, Casuarina.
• Palliser, T. (2004), ‘Rare Birds in 2003’, Wingspan, 14:(3), 38-39.
• BARC Case Numbers 131, 237 and 365.

Tony Palliser

Chairman, Birds Australia Rarities Committee