Hello, tweeters. Someone called my attention to this, and I realized I had
been quite unclear in my post about the Black-tailed Gull. I said:

>I wonder if it's possible the "possible Black-tailed Gull" recently reported
>on tweeters could have been a subadult Mew Gull. I see nothing about the
>description and sketch that would definitely eliminate that possibility.
>Black-tailed Gulls are quite dark-backed, darker than California Gulls, and
>if the bird were an adult (as the plumage indicates), a red tip might be
>visible on the bill. A subadult would show less white in the wing than an
>adult and could show a substantial dark tail bar.

The last sentence should read "A subadult MEW GULL would show less white in
the wing than an adult and could show a substantial tail bar." Hope I
didn't confuse the issue too much.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 253-879-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 253-879-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416
http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/museum.html