Hey all, I emailed Steve Hampton (who has a nicely laid out gull ID
website-http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/6181/gulls.htm) and asked
him about the strange Mew I saw in Olympia last week. His website does show
a photo of a rare pale-yellow iris Mew brachyrhynchus. Click on Mew Gull,
then at the top of the page there are photos, the pale-eyed bird is listed.
Anyways, time to mark up your National Geo guide: Pale-yellow iris
brachyrhynchus Mews do exist, and the clincher ID mark to look for is the
large white pale
tongue on P8. This is not present in the kamtchatkensis, instead it has a
small white apical spot on P8. So this bird will have to remain a mystery,
but was probably a pale-eyed brachyrhynchus.

Thanks

Jason Paulios
JPaulios at hotmail.com
Olympia, WA




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