Rick,

I've seen birds like that that I called Thayer's. Herring eyes to me seem a
whiter shade of yellow, more glaring. I think it's within the known and
normal range of variation for Thayer's.

Gene.

At 11:54 AM 11/3/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi Tweeters,
>
>Gene Revelas, Molly Hukari, and I spent Saturday birding at Ocean Shores.
>Armed with all the Thayer's Gull hints from last week, and having read the
>sections in the recommended books (Grant: Gulls, and Kaufman: Advanced
>Birding), I was able to sort out most of the gulls. We did, however, see
>an adult gull at the sewage ponds near the game range that we're intrigued
>by:
>
>General size and appearance: Adult four-year gull. Smaller than the
>WesternXGlausous-winged Hybrids (hybrid); head shape rounded and 'gentle'
>in appearance, but not as dovelike as a Mew Gull. Forehead: Not as
>sloped as the hybrids or Herrings that we saw that day.
>Bill: Yellow bill with a red dot at the end. No black on the bill. Bill
>smaller and more slender than hybrid, with less pronounced Gonys.
>Iris: Bright ('citrine') yellow, orbital ring not visible.
>Legs: pink, but not obviously brighter pink than the hybrids.
>Mantle: Pale gray, about like the Ring-billed Gulls that were hanging
>around, although light conditions were constantly changing. Definitely
>darker than what I would imagine for Iceland Gull.
>Primaries: Above: jet black 'webbing' on the edges of the primaries, with
>large white mirrors near the end of each primary. Seemed to be a classic
>Thayer's pattern.
>Underwing: in flight, very pale underneath, presumably eliminating Herring
>gull and again consistent with Thayer's Gull.
>Head and Neck: Generally white with some winter gray 'smudging'
>Tail: White
>
>This bird seemed to us to be a reasonable Thayer's Gull, except for the
>pale yellow eye color. Do some Thayer's Gulls have yellow eyes? (Grant
>says no), or is this an intergrade with something more interesting
>(Thayer's X Kumlien's Iceland ???) ? Any comments?
>
>Rick Romea
>Seattle, WA
>rromea at stioptronics.com
>206-523-5831 (Home)
>206-827-0460 X 316 (Work)
>
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