Juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull Green YDRX was ringed by us in June 2023 in the colony at IJmuiden Forteiland, the Netherlands.
Its plumage is what we call “blond” because of its distinctive faded light-brown colour of its feathers compared to the normal dark-brown colour as can be seen in its siblings.
Its parents also do not show any irregularities in their plumage, so it is unclear what causes this plumage to look like this.
Although not uncommon, it is only the second time that we have seen a chick like this in our project since its start in 2008.
The other chick was ringed as YAXL, which was not as blond as YDRX. In its adult plumage, YAXL shows both leucistic and sub-adult feathers.
We were looking forward to seeing YDRX grow up, but unfortunately we found it dead one week after ringing.
Gulls to the Horizon 