Northern California, US - Pale Gull ID help (1 Viewer)

[brayndayn]

Hi all, I've been lurking here for a couple months and this is my first official post. I need help ID'ing this gull I saw in Bodega Bay, California. I am an East Coaster, so I am not very familiar with the Western Birds but am trying to learn. This gull stood out because of how pale it was. It had a very pale gray mantle, with slight brown patterning and light primaries (although darker than the rest of the body). Head struck me as "blocky" or with a flat spot. Mostly dark bill with a bit of color towards the base. Larger than the ring billed gulls in the vicinity but smaller than the Western gulls behind it. My initial thought was Glaucous-Winged Gull as it is common in this area, however the bill seems on the small side; more like a Thayer's bill size? The primaries seem too light for Thayer's though. Any thoughts and ID tips? This was in a mixed flock of California Gull, Ring-Billed Gulls, Short-Billed Gull, Western Gulls (I believe the dark brown gull behind in some of these pictures).
Thanks!

 

[lou salomon]

Hi brayndayn and welcome as a poster. Unfortunately I don't know anyone among the regular participants on here who really is an expert on West Coast gulls, and, considering the multiple hybrid possibilities over there and the time of year (with mostly worn wing coverts) this really is quite a difficult bird. But to me (although not living in the US but dealing a lot with gulls) it looks like a 2nd cycle (3rd calendar year) Thayer's Iceland Gull, on structure and pale primary edges.
If you're on facebook I'd recommend posting this bird here: Log in to Facebook (North American Gulls).

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[brayndayn]

Hi brayndayn and welcome as a poster. Unfortunately I don't know anyone among the regular participants on here who really is an expert on West Coast gulls, and, considering the multiple hybrid possibilities over there and the time of year (with mostly worn wing coverts) this really is quite a difficult bird. But to me (although not living in the US but dealing a lot with gulls) it looks like a 2nd cycle (3rd calendar year) Thayer's Iceland Gull, on structure and pale primary edges.
If you're on facebook I'd recommend posting this bird here: Log in to Facebook (North American Gulls).

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Hi all, I've been lurking here for a couple months and this is my first official post. I need help ID'ing this gull I saw in Bodega Bay, California. I am an East Coaster, so I am not very familiar with the Western Birds but am trying to learn. This gull stood out because of how pale it was. It had a very pale gray mantle, with slight brown patterning and light primaries (although darker than the rest of the body). Head struck me as "blocky" or with a flat spot. Mostly dark bill with a bit of color towards the base. Larger than the ring billed gulls in the vicinity but smaller than the Western gulls behind it. My initial thought was Glaucous-Winged Gull as it is common in this area, however the bill seems on the small side; more like a Thayer's bill size? The primaries seem too light for Thayer's though. Any thoughts and ID tips? This was in a mixed flock of California Gull, Ring-Billed Gulls, Short-Billed Gull, Western Gulls (I believe the dark brown gull behind in some of these pictures).
Thanks!

Thank you for the response. I will have to reactive my Facebook but would be worth it if someone could ID it!

 

[brayndayn]

Hi brayndayn and welcome as a poster. Unfortunately I don't know anyone among the regular participants on here who really is an expert on West Coast gulls, and, considering the multiple hybrid possibilities over there and the time of year (with mostly worn wing coverts) this really is quite a difficult bird. But to me (although not living in the US but dealing a lot with gulls) it looks like a 2nd cycle (3rd calendar year) Thayer's Iceland Gull, on structure and pale primary edges.
If you're on facebook I'd recommend posting this bird here: Log in to Facebook (North American s

 

[brayndayn]

Someone in the group was able to pretty quickly id this as 2nd cycle Thayer's. So you hit the nail on the head, nice job!