Subject: Slaty-backed Gull.........
Date: Nov 6 20:05:06 2000
From: RTShaw80 at aol.com - RTShaw80 at aol.com


OK...I'm looking at the video captures of the ugly gull on Mike Patterson's
page, and the shots from 11/4 and 11/6 are of different birds. Unless the
11/4 bird grew out P10 and P9 primaries, and most of its secondaries in two
days. Though I don't know how long it takes for them to grow in.... Since
the photos at the URL
http://home.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/uggu/ugly_gull.html
show the bird its outer 2 primaries on both wings, and the new video captures
from 11/6, URL
http://home.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/uggu/sbgu02.html
show the outer 2 primaries fully grown, with prominent white mirror on P10.

The bird doesn't look too much different then probably a back cross hybrid
with mostly Western roots.
Why I think its NOT a Slaty-backed Gull
1. Bill is way too heavy with quite the gonydeal angle. SBGU would have a
smaller appearing bill.
2. The head is not faintly streaked as a SBGU would exhibit, but rather
mottled brown, like a trashy hybrid or Glaucous-winged/hybrid. Dark smudging
that a SBGU would show in winter is virtually absent.
3. Legs, SBGU show bright pink "bubble-gum" colored legs. This bird looks
in the realm of Occidentalis Western to me leg color wise.
4. Mantle color, again, it doesn't just pop out at you, looks the shade of
Occidentalis Western, though its hard to judge on a video scan, I admit.
Plus with truely light SBGU's, you probably can't dismiss hybridization with
Glaucous-winged.
5. Wing Pattern. The bird doesn't exhibit the characteristics of a typical
SBGU. P10 and P9 are growing back in, so you can't really judge by the
mirror on P10, but P8-6 are quite prominent, and show no really large string
of pearls, at least on the right wing. The left wing shows minor spots, but
it looks to be in the range of what a Western can show.

I have limited experience with Slaty-backed Gull, but I've studied the Tacoma
Bird for the last few years, and that bird just stuck out like a sore thumb.

In closing, I just think that this bird is one of our good ole typical
pot-bellied "Mostly Western" Gull we enjoy seeing so much on the Pacific
Northwest Coast.



Ryan Shaw
Lacey, WA
RTShaw80 at aol.com
http://hometown.aol.com//rtshaw80/index.html