Thank you all for your comments about the OLYMPIC GULL (catchy name,
huh?).

The questions about hybridization, subspecies, etc. for these large gulls
is an excellent one, having been hashed over for many years by seabird
researchers. Provided that Herrings interbreed freely with
Glaucous-wingeds in Alaska, producing viable offspring, and that
Glaucous-wingeds interbreed freely with Westerns in the Northwest, also
producing viable offspring, then one must conclude that interspecific
barriers are quite weak for these species. Might Glaucous-wingeds
similarly hybridize with Slaty-backed Gulls in the western
Aleutians/Kamchatka region, or with Glaucous Gulls in the Bering Sea?


Your comments raise some really neat questions. Where do Glaucous-winged
X Herring hybrids from Alaska over-winter? Are they among the winter
gulls we see in the Northwest? How would we separate them from
pale-mantled Olympic Gulls? Also, are there discernible morphs of
Olympic Gulls, depending on degree of hybridization, or do we see a
complete continuum of plumages from Glaucous-winged to Western? During
summer, 1996, gulls breeding on an island in Dungeness Bay had a wide
range of plumages, but I'll have to look more closely this year.


Leading to the next, inevitable, question: should the AOU "lump?" I
don't know, but if the gull species we see now are reunited following
Pleistocene separation, kind of like the Black-throated Green Warbler
complex, then we're witnessing a wonderful experiment in speciation.

Hybridization between Glaucous-wingeds and Westerns apparently has been
known since early this century. Bent (1921) quotes Dawson (1908, Condor
10:45), that he (Dawson) found a large number of "mulattoes" on Carroll
Island, north of La Push. Increased gull populations and survival, due
to year-round access to human food sources, plus their concomitant spread
into new breeding sites, may have exacerbated the hybridization problem
(thank you, Andy Stepniewski, for this idea).

At this point, let's not be too concerned about the species problem, even
though it is a good question. I intended "Olympic Gull" mostly as a
moniker of convenience, to informally replace "Glaucous-Winged X Western
Gull." Yes, in formal documents, such as CBC listings, their formal
hybridized name is desirable.

I did not know that these birds have been called "Puget Sound Gull,"
although, that, too, seems a little awkward. If the center of
hybridization is truly southwestern Washington, then maybe "Columbia
Gull" would be better. I do know, however, that birding newcomers seem
to relate very well to "Olympic Gull." Maybe that's the point. Giving
these gulls a name we can relate to more easily may help newcomers
overcome their reluctance to identify gulls. It seems to work around
Sequim.

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim