[Birdtalk] possible Iceland Gull update

[Mark Stackhouse]

Hi Tim,

This looks like any of several other contenders which have been 
reported and photographed in recent years. The fact that Iceland Gull 
still isn't on the Utah list tells you of the outcome of all of these. 
An open-wing, open tail shot would help greatly, but we may not ever be 
able to say for sure. There was a light Thayer's at the Bountiful 
Landfill about 3 years ago that was even lighter than your bird, but 
that showed markings supposedly diagnostic for Thayer's. The opinions 
posted on Frontiers may reflect the location of the commentator more 
than any feature of the bird itself. With intermediate individuals like 
this, eastern birders would try to turn it into a Thayer's 
(unsuccessfully), while us westerners try to make it an Iceland (also 
unsuccessfully). In other words, the bird is probably not safely 
identifiable as one or the other, so the default is to the common 
species of the area (Thayer's in the west and Iceland in the east), and 
thus would be called something different depending upon where it was 
seen. Since this is Utah, the "safe" call is a light Thayer's. I do 
believe that we will someday have a "good" Iceland Gull record in Utah, 
but we'll probably have to wait for a less intermediate individual than 
this one.

One thing that concerns me in particular about your bird is the 
apparent darkish tips to the primaries. As I said, it would be good to 
have better views of the tail and open wings. With regards to the 
overall lightness of the bird, it appears to me to be within the range 
of variation possible for Thayer's.

Mark Stackhouse
mark at westwings.com
801-487-9453 (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
011-52-323-285-1243 (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico)

On Dec 29, 2006, at 8:39 PM, Tim Avery wrote:

> The ID frontiers list has been lighting up with responses to the 
> pictures I have
> posted. Many viewers believe this bird is inside the normal range for a
> Kumlien's type ICELAND GULL (not currently on the Utah list).  
> However, others
> insist that it is within the range for Thayer's Gull.  And yet other 
> insist
> that this is likely an integrade and who knows???  For anyone out 
> looking for
> the Western Gull this weekend, keep your eyes peeled for this very 
> light gull.
> It basically looks like a tiny 1st winter Glaucous Gull, but with an 
> all dark
> bill.  If you have a camera try to get pictures of the tail and any 
> open wing
> shots in flight would be nice.  I will hopefully make it out in the 
> afternoon.
> Comments and pictures of this gull can be viewed here:
>
> http://timaverybirding.com/icgu/icgu.html
>
> Good Birding
>
> Tim
> Indianapolis, IN and Salt Lake City, UT
> tanager at timaverybirding.com
> http://www.timaverybirding.com
> http://www.birdtography.com
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