Hybrid Lesser Black-backed Gull Green YCLD: from chick to breeding adult

Today in the gull colony at IJmuiden Forteiland, the Netherlands, we came across hybrid Lesser Black-backed Gull Green YCLD, sitting on a nest with 3 eggs.

We were excited by this discovery because we ringed YCLD as a chick in 2017. Its mother was a Lesser Black-backed Gull and its father a (presumed) hybrid Lesser Black-backed Gull x Yellow-legged Gull, ringed as Green YCAF. It is great to see that it has now returned to the colony to breed itself.

YCLD was also seen in the colony in May 2019 and May 2020.

YCLD as a chick in May 2017.

YCLD as a juvenile in May 2017 with its father YCAF, a (presumed) Lesser Black-backed Gull x Yellow-legged Gull.

For more images of YCLD as a chick and a juvenile in 2017, see this post.

YCLD in its third calendar year, IJmuiden Forteiland, 20 May 2019.

YCLD in its fourth calendar year, IJmuiden Forteiland, 26 May 2020.

YCLD in its fifth calendar year, IJmuiden Forteiland, 12 April 2021.

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