Birders,

Here is a description of the Black-tailed Gull by Jamie Fenneman, one
of the 3 observers who saw it on January 5. It has not been relocated
since then.

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops, BC
contopus at shaw.ca


----- Original Message -----
From: Jamie Fenneman <fennj at hotmail.com>
To: <bcbirdingvanisland at yahoogroups.com>;
<bcvanbirds at yahoogroups.com>; <bcprovbirding at yahoogroups.com>;
<bcintbird at yahoogroups.com>; <ncenbird at strider.pgfn.bc.ca>
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2002 2:26 PM
Subject: black-tailed gull (long)


> Hi birders
>
Although my name seems to have been forgotten from the recent posts
regarding the black-tailed gull, I was indeed standing there with Rick
and Mitch when Rick Toochin spotted the gull off Ucluelet yesterday.
I can tell you all that I have NEVER seen anything like this bird
before. Since I am the first one of the 3 "discoverers" to reach
email, I have been assigned the task of putting out the official
word. THIS IS FOR REAL!!!!!! For the record books, here is a summary
of the field marks of the bird:

The initial impression was of a TINY, DARK-BACKED adult-type gull. It
was roosting on a rocky spit offshore with glaucous-wings, Thayer's,
and hybrid gulls so direct comparisons (size, mantle colour) were very
easy. This bird was about 2/3 the size of the Thayer's gulls
(approximately ring-billed gull size) with a very unusual shape:
pot-bellied, front-heavy with a relatively short tail and very long
wingtips. When it was perched, a faint brown cast could be seen on the
upperparts, which were otherwise a dark slate-gray. The
crown, nape, and sides of the neck were streaked/spotted in a pattern
similar to a winter-plumaged California gull. The bill was relatively
long and thin, pale with a black tip (with a tiny pale spot at the
very tip of the bill). The legs were dull yellowish or
greenish-yellow. Eye colour was not apparent due to the distance, but
the streaking on the head was slightly heavier around the eye (like a
slaty-backed gull). The trailing edge was VERY THIN, and from a
distance the primaries looked PURE BLACK, although
there may have been very tiny pale mirrors. Of course, the most
distinctive thing about the bird was the tail. The tail showed a BOLD
BLACK SUBTERMINAL BAND, which faded into the white base. The very tip
of the tail showed a THIN WHITE TERMINAL BAND, and the outer webs of
the outer tail feathers were white as well (black didn't seem to
extend to the very outer edges of the tail). The tail was very evident
when the bird was preening it, when it flipped it sideways and fanned
it out (couldn't ask for a better look!).

After watching it on the rocks for a while, the bird picked up and
flew a short distance to the tip of the spit. In flight, the wings
were very
reminiscent of a Laughing Gull. The primaries were black, the
upperwing was dark slate-gray, and the trailing edge was very thin.
There appeared to be a slightly paler, perhaps brownish window on the
inner primaries but this was never seen well enough to say that it
wasn't the result of weird lighting or something. From below, the
wings were whitish with heavy black tips. After roosting on the tip
for a while the bird then picked up and flew north, up high, probably
to the open ocean or a beach to roost for the evening (it was almost
3:00 pm by this time).

This bird was part of a large assortment of gulls which were
frequenting a fish plant directly across from the Eagle's Nest Marine
Pub, and is almost certainly regularly using the site as a food
source. Incidentally, there was also a 1st-winter Glaucous Gull and a
1st-winter California Gull using the same fish plant at the same time,
so the gull diversity in Ucluelet Harbour was pretty high yesterday!
Like Jack Bowling said about the Black-tailed Gull, the bird sticks
out like a sore thumb indeed. Tiny and dark, with a bicoloured bill,
pot belly, and black tail band.

Birders looking to relocate this gull should scour the entire area,
but
particularly off the fish plant. We watched the bird for probably 45
minutes before it left, and it didn't appear to be acting strangely as
if it were going to abandon the area. It has probably been there for a
while! Good luck to anyone out there searching for it, I think I will
be celebrating for a while!!!!!

Jamie Fenneman (on behalf of Rick Toochin and Mitch Meredith)
Courtenay, B.C.
fennj at hotmail.com


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