A Ring-billed Gull laughs while feeding with a mob on the Kennebec River in Gardiner. The misnomer "seagull" is often used for the prolific bird. In fact, the gull breeds and resides primarily inland.

By Andy Molloy, staff photographer

Gulls in Maine are like Elvis in Las Vegas.

Diving in the sky, swimming on the water and scavenging in dumpsters. But Elvis is easier to identify except for those gulls with sideburns.

The gull photo worked visually. But not without the identity of the species. This was a job for the Great One. I enlisted Jeff Wells.

If Elvis is the King, Jeff Wells is the Great One. He is the Senior Scientist for the Boreal Birdsong Initiative. Regarded, worldwide, as an authority on birds and biological conservation, Wells maintains an office in Gardiner. And he promptly returns my emails.

This is an excerpt from my message: "Oh Great One: Herring Gull?

Wells immediately wrote back: "I love the photo! But it is actually a Ring-billed Gull."

So why is he the Great One? That is Jeff's exclamation point following the words love photo.

Unlike me, Jeff is profoundly modest. Go to his blog (www.borealbirds.org/blog) and give the Great One a shout out.

I know I will soon. Unless birds grow sideburns.

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