Actually, it has been shown that there is a faily large genetic variation in several of the larger gulls. But, the problem is, that it isn't possible to make fixed rules for how much divergence is needed for species recognition. An example: Some species (i.e. several of the Atlapetes Brush-finches) may show a divergence of less than 2% in say, mt-DNA, but clearly be different species as no interbreeding occurs where the distributions meet (if they do). In others (mostly widespread, i.e. some North Hemisphere gulls) there may be a variation of as much as 3%, but still they interbreed freely wherever they meet, meaning that the geneflow is substantial between populations! So, this is a very complicated matter, one that even many biologists have a hard time keeping up with. It would be easy if you could just say; here's the limit; if two populations differ more that x percent, they are different species. Sadly, that is not the way it is! You need more scientific studies involving different tools for analysis. All VERY complicated!