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Another Gull (1 Viewer)

B

Bluetail

Senior Moment
Can anyone ID this gull for me, please? It's the colour of the wing tips that puzzle me. Is the bird a full species or a hybrid? I know the first question will be "Where did you take it?", but if you don't mind I'll answer that question later in order to avoid biassing the answers.

Sorry about the quality. It's a detail from a photo I took 5 years ago with a bog standard 35mm SLR, magnified as much as I felt I could get away with.

Jason
 

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Large White-headed Gulls - don't you hate them!!!

Throwing my hat into the ring I'll say the photo was taken on the West Coast of the USA. I think it's a hybrid Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull.

A pure Glaucous-winged would have paler wingtips, almost the same colour as the mantle.

Thayers and Kumlein's Gull is ruled out on structure.

Go on - tell me its taken at Devils Point on the Hoe!!

Darrell
 
Darrell Clegg said:
Go on - tell me its taken at Devils Point on the Hoe!!
Click to expand...

I must admit I was sorely tempted, but after that Hoaxes thread I wouldn't dare!!

No, it was actually taken in October 1998 at the Illahee State Park, on the opposite side of Puget Sound from Seattle. So full marks for location!

Thanks for the Glacous-winged X Herring suggestion. That's what I was thinking too. However, I found the variation in wing tip tone amongst the Glaucous-winged Gulls in WA quite confusing. These were at the darkest extreme, but other birds showed various shades between this and the pure grey and white of the text-book birds. Some of the shots here brought back some memories!
http://homepage.mac.com/brdavid/Menu13.html

Apart from the wing tips the bird I pictured looked to me like a pure Glaucous-winged. I don't know what natural variation there is in pure Glaucous-winged (if any) and where that ends and hybridisation begins. I'd be very interested in any further thoughts on this.

Jason
 
I'm with Darrell on this one, I hate gulls too!
Pretty sound reasoning on the i.d. though.
 
Kumlieni said:
This is not a GWGU X American Herring Gull. It is almost certainly a GWGU with just a touch of Western Gull.
Click to expand...

Agree with Kumlieni, certainly GWGU X WEGU is more likely. I am also familiar with this specific type of gull that is very prevalent in Western WA. They are often refered to as "Olympic Gulls".
 
It's a backcross Glaucous-Winged X Western with GWG. It's still too early for the GWG X HEGU combination as they usually begin to arrive with the Herring and Alaskan populations of GlauousWinged Gull in October. Also the head and bill are too large for any Herring Gull genes.
 
I like gulls a lot, but I am no expert (yet!)
Based on Bill Structure, head Structure/Pattern, and the overall Jizz of the Bird, I would agree with Glaucous Winged Gull x Western Gull - Definatley not Herring x GWGU


Darrell Clegg said:
Throwing my hat into the ring I'll say the photo was taken on the West Coast of the USA.
Go on - tell me its taken at Devils Point on the Hoe!!

Darrell
Click to expand...

Top marks for a guess on location by the way!
 
I´ve seen some other pic. of this gull a few years back and had a discussion with Jason at another forum - answering him GWG X WG.

JanJ
 
One question: do you ever get Californian Gull hybrids on the Pacific Coast? I am not suggesting any Californian Gull genes in this bird (the bird looks far too large and the black gonal markings are all wrong) but if they do spread their parentage it would only add to the mysteries of gull ID along the West Coast?
 
stuart winter said:
One question: do you ever get Californian Gull hybrids on the Pacific Coast? I am not suggesting any Californian Gull genes in this bird (the bird looks far too large and the black gonal markings are all wrong) but if they do spread their parentage it would only add to the mysteries of gull ID along the West Coast?
Click to expand...
Because of where they breed, California Gull does not hybridize often with other species. They do occur however, usually with Herring or Ring-Billed Gulls.
 
stuart winter said:
One question: do you ever get Californian Gull hybrids on the Pacific Coast? I am not suggesting any Californian Gull genes in this bird (the bird looks far too large and the black gonal markings are all wrong) but if they do spread their parentage it would only add to the mysteries of gull ID along the West Coast?
Click to expand...


No, California Gull hybrids are extremely rare. It has been known to produce hybrids with Ring-billed Gull and Mew (Short-billed) Gull, and I think that there was a possible hybrid with a Franklin's Gull.

We have plenty of mystery on the West Coast with GWx Western, GWxHerring, GWxGlaucous, and HerringxGlaucous as it is. No need for more.

JanJ- I found this bird in the Index for ID listed as a GWxHerring. I wanted to make sure other people that came across it in the Index were not confused by the incorrect ID, so I posted on it. I did not realize it become an active thread again if I did.
 
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