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Articles

Vol. 56 No. 4 (2025)

SECOND PREBASIC MOLT OF A RING-BILLED GULL AT ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21199/WB56.4.4
Submitted
February 17, 2026
Published
November 3, 2025

Abstract

The extended stay of a Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) at Anchorage, Alaska, where the species is casual, provided the opportunity for observation of the second prebasic molt of a single individual. That molt was at an early stage when the bird was first found on 9 July 2024 and was completed by mid-October, in agreement with the schedule reported from the Ring-billed Gull’s normal range. Growth of the outermost primary was slower than that of the others, perhaps related to that feather’s greater mass and variable density along its length, or because the focus of the bird’s biophysical systems had begun to shift from molt to preparation for migration and winter.

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