Subject: Re: gulls, etc.
Date: Jan 19 11:10:39 1998
From: Eugene Hunn - hunnhome at accessone.com


Ruth,

wy make more
>complicated than it is?

BECAUSE IT IS MORE COMPLICATED THAN IT IS.

i only have to look at the Bill at the western and i
>know this isn't the real Slaty-backed. the colour of bright yellow alone
>makes it a western.

SAYS WHO? GRANT SAYS NOTHING TO THAT EFFECT, NOR HAS THAT BEEN TRUE OF OTHER
SLATY-BACKED GULLS I'VE SEEN (WHICH HAVE BEEN QUITE A FEW HERE AND IN ALASKA)

If you have the new Fall Issue of Field Notes:The
>Cover is a Kelp- Gull, the Slaty-backed looks that dark.

THIS ONE DOES, TRUE. BUT HOW DO WE KNOW THAT MUST BE THE CASE. LOOK AT
GRANT'S FOTOS FOR A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.

ONE SLATY-BACKED DOES NOT THE SPECIES MAKE.

Gene Hunn, Seattle, hunnhome at accessone.com

At 07:31 PM 1/18/98 -0800, you wrote:
>Hi Eugene,
>I have the feeling lot's of Birders going home with seeing the dark
>Western, instead of the Real Slaty-backed Gull.The reason i say this, most
>of the time i hear the call the dark western the real Gull, to i point out
>this Gull is a Western Gull otherwise there would go home, that there saw
>the Slaty- backed Gull.If you have the new Fall Issue of Field Notes:The
>Cover is a Kelp- Gull, the Slaty-backed looks that dark.We had three
>Western there, but i only have to look at the Bill at the western and i
>know this isn't the real Slaty-backed. the colour of bright yellow alone
>makes it a western.The Slaty have a pale straight Bill, the Western have a
>white Head, the Slaty have smal brownish pin- stripes what NO other Gull
>have there.I can pick this Gull out anytime, because it is the typical
>Species,what a real Slaty- backed Gull should look like, wy make more
>complicated than it is?
>Ruth
>GODWIT at worldnet.att.net
>
>
>
>----------
>> From: Eugene Hunn <hunnhome at accessone.com>
>> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
>> Subject: gulls, etc.
>> Date: Sunday, January 18, 1998 6:06 PM
>>
>> Gene Hunn, Seattle, hunnhome at accessone.com
>>
>> I joined the multitudes today chasing rare gull stakeouts hereabouts:
>> Slaty-backed at Gog-le-hi-te wetlands, Tacoma; Little Gull at American
>Lake,
>> Lakewood; Glaucous Gull at Tukwila. I saw the Little Gull well at quite a
>> long distance dancing about on the far side of the lake with Bonies.
>Missed
>> the Glaucous twice, yesterday because I forget the exact directions and
>> drove all around for an hour (Tukwila scenic tour) seeing few if any
>gulls)
>> and today the flock was across the river rooting about in a cement plant
>and
>> the Glaucous not visible in the afternoon rain (though it was seen
>earlier).
>>
>> I didn't see Ruth's Slaty-backed, which judging by the fotos on the net
>and
>> descriptions is much darker than the Western-types round about and with a
>> "Thayer's-like" dainty bill. However, there were in addition to one fine
>> adult Western, two other slightly darker-mantled adults that did not
>readily
>> compute for me as Westerns. One might well have been another
>Slaty-backed,
>> as it showed what I have always thought of as "typical" Slaty-backed
>winter
>> adult head pattern of broad smudgy nape streaks (mixed with fine brown
>> streaking at close range? but we were not at close range) and the tapered
>> dark eye patch about a pale yellow eye. It also might have shown the
>> "necklace" just short of the wingtip, but vouchsafed me but one fleeting
>> opportunity to see if it did or it didn't (and I thought it did). It flew
>> off and landed on a flat-topped roof that prevented any closer scrutiny
>at
>> that time.
>>
>> The second odd individual seemed to have a rather heavy, Western-like
>bill,
>> but the bill was pale yellow and without the red spot (the former
>possible
>> Slaty-backed and the classic Western had butter-yellow bills with red
>gonys
>> spots), perhaps suggesting malnutrition, as it had an all white tail and
>> perfectly adult mantle and primaries. The underside of the outer
>primaries
>> appeared paler than in a Western, but I was not able to discern the
>presence
>> or absence of the "necklace." The head was not immaculate white but
>showed a
>> hint of the "Slaty-backed" nape smudging and eye patch, but much less
>> noticeable than on the former bird. The iris was a baleful
>yellowish-white
>> at close range. Both these suspicious individuals were a half shade
>darker
>> on the mantle than the "classic" adult, immaculate headed Western, but
>not
>> so dark as to grab you by the teeth!
>>
>> There was also a Pseudo-Glaucous Gull, with a very nice two-toned pink
>and
>> dusky bill, very pale body, but dusky gray primaries and tail. A very
>worn
>> and bleached 2nd winter Glaucous-winged, I would surmise.
>>
>> In any case, I am more than ever puzzled about Slaty-backed
>identification.
>> Based on the one bird whose foto is now posted, observers are assuming
>that
>> a definitive feature of Slaty-backed Gull is a "Thayer's-like" bill, but
>the
>> fotos in Grant suggested otherwise, i.e., that the typical Slaty-backed
>has
>> a bill at least as strong as a local Herring Gull, if slighter at least
>than
>> the heavy extremes of Western and Glaucous-wingeds. However, I believe
>that
>> Ruth's bird is quite extreme on the dainty end of the scale. The fotos in
>> Grant's Gull Bible also show many Slaty-backed Gulls with mantles that do
>> not appear any darker than typical northern Western Gulls. But, then
>again,
>> you can't trust fotos to always tell the truth. There are either a number
>of
>> Slaty-backed Gulls slipping through without being identified because they
>> are not "typical," or Western Gull's can show a much wider range of eye
>> colors, winter head patterns, wing-tip patterns, etc., than I have
>assumed.
>
>
>