Howard King
Well-known member
Lou on the subject of names.
I don't have the same access to scientific papers as you obviously do - I am a Land Surveyor - a map maker - not part of the ornithological or scientific community and have only my field guides as my aids. They are confusing enough and when it comes to our large gulls of no help what so ever. As to names - the ones you use are new, the thinking behind them based on recent studies, our field guides in the M/E do not reflect these changes. People in the Middle east are simply told that people in Europe have renamed the birds. Take the Case of Houbara Bustard for instance - No Arab in his right mind is going to call it Macqueens it will remain forever Houbara here.
My last field guide bought was the Collins - Bird Guide - it does not cover the middle Gulf unfortunately. In it under Yellow Legged Gull, (text against the illustration) states that ssp cachinnans are similiar but told by eg. having more evenly thick bill, slimmer shape and longer legs and wings hence my thoughts in previous posts.
I hope this in part helps explain my confusion. It would be really nice to see an authorative page with annotated photos or diagrams to assist identification. I just like Gulls and the problems they cause and with the invention of digital cameras able now to share what we have here even if there is nobody else around in the gulf who gives a dam
Thanks for the paper - a lot of the sience I do not understand but give me time. I note however author uses Herring Gull and Southern Herring as names.
I don't have the same access to scientific papers as you obviously do - I am a Land Surveyor - a map maker - not part of the ornithological or scientific community and have only my field guides as my aids. They are confusing enough and when it comes to our large gulls of no help what so ever. As to names - the ones you use are new, the thinking behind them based on recent studies, our field guides in the M/E do not reflect these changes. People in the Middle east are simply told that people in Europe have renamed the birds. Take the Case of Houbara Bustard for instance - No Arab in his right mind is going to call it Macqueens it will remain forever Houbara here.
My last field guide bought was the Collins - Bird Guide - it does not cover the middle Gulf unfortunately. In it under Yellow Legged Gull, (text against the illustration) states that ssp cachinnans are similiar but told by eg. having more evenly thick bill, slimmer shape and longer legs and wings hence my thoughts in previous posts.
I hope this in part helps explain my confusion. It would be really nice to see an authorative page with annotated photos or diagrams to assist identification. I just like Gulls and the problems they cause and with the invention of digital cameras able now to share what we have here even if there is nobody else around in the gulf who gives a dam
Thanks for the paper - a lot of the sience I do not understand but give me time. I note however author uses Herring Gull and Southern Herring as names.
Last edited: