Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Feb 9--Another odd Gull + Glaucous Gulls

Today when I went down to check the local Penticton gull mix, I was pleased to find a "new" GLAUCOUS GULL (photo below). It sounds like there have recently been at least 4 individuals around lately, all different from the bird Laure found in January-- so 5 all together! Not bad for Penticton or anywhere in the province really... my personal record is 6 at one time (Maude Roxby, Kelowna--Feb 2009 I think). Shows how good the gulling is here in the Central Okanagan!

Also present was this interesting adult gull (photos below)... at first I was thinking dark-eyed Herring Gull but others have suggested it might be a hybrid of some sort (see comments below). Right now I'm liking the Herring Gull x GW possibility.


[Above: pale 1st-cycle Glaucous Gull: Penticton's 5th GLGU of the winter!]

[Above: Close-up of mystery bird; adult GWGU on left, juv. GWGU behind]

[Above: mystery bird beside typical Herring Gulls]

7 comments:

  1. Isn't the mantle a shade darker than the nearby birds? And the breast streaking heavier? And the bill a bit different?

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  2. Are you thinking Vega??? The orbital ring does seem reddish-- well gosh, I should be thinking outside the box more... unless you're suggesting a hybrid combo that hasn't clicked with me?

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  3. The head streaking is probably too heavy to make one lean in that direction, but one should always keep Vega in mind. They are present in BC on the coast in Winter and Spring, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few don't turn up in the interior as well. I'm of course only seeing a couple of photos, but the bird just didn't look right for Herring to me. I wouldn't be surprsed if there aren't some GWGU genes in there.

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  4. Perhaps you're right, the head patterning is certainly troublesome. On the other hand the primaries are so black (even on the underside) and the mantle is barely darker than typical Herring/Glaucous-winged... if we can rule out Vega Gull then I suppose the orbital ring suggests something funky, but what exactly?

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  5. Are you thinking WEGU or Herring mixed with GWGU? With primaries that dark I would think the bird would be showing more WEGU traits. Right now I'm leading toward (American/Vega) Herring mixed with Glaucous-winged (maybe 75% to 25% or 87.5% to 12.5%)

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  6. Yeah, I think Glaucous-winged x Herring of whatever sort, is most likely. Again though, I am only guessing based upon the photos.

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  7. Some of the birds we see here on the mid-Island in fall and winter have absolutely textbook American Herring Gull plumage, and big droopy bills and heavy builds, exactly like Glaucous-winged Gulls. Some of these traits might be from an ancestor quite a few generations back I would imagine?

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