Caspian Gull

[jedku]

I was birding last summer in the Hortobágy, Hungary. In a drained fishpond, I saw a gull I couldn't identify with Birds of Europe...Svensson et al.
I was told by a local birder there that it was a Caspian Gull, recently split from Yellow-legged Gull. I was surprised that this quite distinct form of gull was not illustrated in the guide as subspecies or otherwise. It doesn't look so much like a Yellow-legged.
Does anyone have any comments on Caspian Gulls? Are they illustrated in any new edition field guide yet? Why were they lumped so long with Yellow-leggeds? Thanks.

[Xenospiza]

The BOU even has them still lumped (something I don't understand, although one of the reasons must be hybridization. Although there are plenty of problems to delimit gull taxa, cachinnans and michahellis are quite far apart in plumage, call & DNA).

Until recently, almost all large grey-winged gulls with black wing tips were lumped into Herring Gull... most field guides were produced somewhere during the "splitting process". I'm sure a new guide would (have to) treat American Herring, Atlantic Yellow-legged, Armenian, Caspian, and Heuglin's Gulls, and possibly some regional variations too – no matter what their taxonomic status will become! But surely, a field guide isn't the best place to cope with large gulls...
For now, it's better to check the web or get Gulls of North America, Europe, and Asia by KM Olsen and H Larsson.

[DEREK CHARLES]

I believe Caspian Gull will be covered in the the updated version of the Collins Guide.

Derek

[Gentoo]

The AOU for reasons I don't understand doesn't yet have them split either (last I checked) but this could be changing. I agree with Xenospiza on the Olsen and Larsson book of gulls. Its the most up to date although even in there, there is disagreement among ornithologist about which are good species and which aren't.

[AlexC]

The AOU for reasons I don't understand doesn't yet have them split either (last I checked) but this could be changing. I agree with Xenospiza on the Olsen and Larsson book of gulls. Its the most up to date although even in there, there is disagreement among ornithologist about which are good species and which aren't.

The AOU is very good at ignoring issues of taxonomy that matter most outside of its range - in this case the only accidental / vagrant gulls are probably of the Yellow-legged species / sub-species (michahellis), and therefore there's not much reason to differenciate until the BOU does.

[lou salomon]

wait untill you get your first cachinnans! ;)