Gull, Victoria, Vancouver Island BC (1 Viewer)

[Deb335077]

All these taken in Victoria, Vancouver Island in Sept this year

Thank you for any help and all the help given in my recent threads on Alaska & Vancouver.
It is very much appreciated.

Debbie

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Hi Debbie, the large Larus in the Pacific NW can be challenge, particularly due to hybrid "Olympic Gull" occidentalis x glaucescens. I spent an afternoon puzzling over these at a fish farm in Tofino, and decided that a proportion of the population were above my skill set.
That said, these birds look to have mostly Glaucous-winged features, with an all dark bill (no pale base to lower mandible), smoky plumage tones, and little contrast between the darkest tones of the primaries and the mantle colour - the exception being "2269", which looks a bit darker in the primaries than the mantle, and has darker legs, perhaps suggesting some Western genes somewhere down the line.
Hopefully others with more experience will chip in, it is 9 years since I was last in BC, and I have to admit there were more interesting things to spend my time looking at!

 

[AveryBartels]

Hi Debbie, the large Larus in the Pacific NW can be challenge, particularly due to hybrid "Olympic Gull" occidentalis x glaucescens. I spent an afternoon puzzling over these at a fish farm in Tofino, and decided that a proportion of the population were above my skill set.
That said, these birds look to have mostly Glaucous-winged features, with an all dark bill (no pale base to lower mandible), smoky plumage tones, and little contrast between the darkest tones of the primaries and the mantle colour - the exception being "2269", which looks a bit darker in the primaries than the mantle, and has darker legs, perhaps suggesting some Western genes somewhere down the line.
Hopefully others with more experience will chip in, it is 9 years since I was last in BC, and I have to admit there were more interesting things to spend my time looking at!

I think the above pretty much sums it up - "Glaucous-winged"-ish Gulls, possibly pure, more like with some degree of hybridization with Western.