Plumage

So... here's a game! What do these two birds have in common....?

And NO, it is not that they are both seagulls! In fact these pictures were taken in two very different places. The top picture on Sanibel Island, Florida in January, the bottom on Delaware Bay, New Jersey in May. Does that help?

Well believe it or not, but they're the same bird. These are both Laughing Gulls (although I must admit, it took me, mom and dad quite some time to figure out what our wintery guy was!). It's amazing how much their plumage changes throughout the year, and look at the beak! Even the beak colour changes! I've also seen some wintery guys with slight reddish tinges to their beaks, to help support my identification, but it still boggles the mind!

I wonder why their heads are black and beaks red? Thermoregulation? Species recognition? Something completely weird?

Hmmmmm...