Martin Meyers wrote:

"Can anybody give me some advice on separating first-year Thayer's from
Glaucous-winged Gulls? I have studied most of the guides and specialty
identification books (Gulls, Seabirds, ..), and every time I think I have it
down pat, I have a day like today! Dozens of first year gulls at a distance
of about 20 feet, and I get really confused!"

Martin, don't feel like the Lone Ranger! I have spent a fair amount of time
learning the northwest gulls, and I generally feel that I can identify the
vast majority of them, including age classes. Except for Thayers, that is.

Yes, I've seen many Thayers, and I know the essential field marks, but this
species seems to me to be the quintessential and invariable exception to all
the rules. There are Thayers with lighter-than-field-guide eyes,
flatter-than-field-guide foreheads, darker-than-field-guide underwing tips
and heavier-than-field-guide bills. And I seem to be able to find
individuals with all these exceptions. Furthermore, we are now told that
Herring Gulls don't always have yellow eyes. Oh, great!

Many of my birder friends insist that the Thayers is a "cinch", but in my
opinion it is probably the most difficult regular gull to identify in the
Puget Sound area.

Sometimes I wonder if Thayers isn't just a 'catchall' generic gull into
which all unidentifiable individuals are placed!

Dave Nunnallee
dnun461 at ecy.wa.gov
Bellevue, WA