Jessie Barry posting a message for Cameron Cox:

This post is an attempt to clear up a few things concerning the Kent gull.
Hopefully it won't cause further confusion. I've been meaning to write this
for a while, but haven't had time. This is going to be a bit long so delete
it or get comfortable!

First, what the heck is it? After studying this bird three times, I am
willing to say, with only the tiniest shadow doubt, that it is a Glaucous
Gull. When I first saw it over a week ago my first impression was that it
was a Glaucous Gull (GLGU). I then went back and looked again and was less
sure that was a GLGU and did a little research. Most recently, Saturday in
fact, Jessie Barry, Tony Leukering, and I viewed the bird and all agreed
that it was a GLGU. All three of us are transplanted easterners, with
Iceland Gull (ICGU) experience from the Great Lakes and the East Coast. In
late December Jessie and I studied ~15 ICGU in the New England area, so the
species is still fairly fresh in our minds. The most important point in my
opinion is not what species it is but what it represents. To me it is not
simply just a small but otherwise perfectly normal GLGU. It has some odd
features that often accompany very abnormally sized individuals. It also
highlights a West Coast identification problem that is often dismissed too
easily. I know that this bird was a learning experience for me and I hope
we all keep the existence of birds such as the Kent gull in mind when
considering possible Iceland Gulls in the future.

Structurally, it appears to me to be a long-billed, small-headed,
heavy-chested, short legged bird with medium length wings. In flight the
wings appear moderately broad-based and the "hand" did not appear to
especially long as ICGU usually does.
The bill and the overall proportions are what stuck me as being odd. The
bill appears long with length being ~1/3 greater than the distance between
the base of the bill and the back of the eye and about the same distance as
the primaries extended beyond the tail. Longer than any of the ICGU I have
seen by a wide margin. However it shows less gonydeal expansion than any
other GLGU I have seen in WA, and looks somewhat similar to the bills of
many Herring Gulls.
The small-headed look is striking and doesn't fit well at all with the heavy
chest and bulky body. This reminds me of some the hybrids we see in the
Pacific Northwest that sometimes are quite oddly proportioned, but is also a
trait of abnormally small gulls. The small head as quite different all the
other GLGU I have seen which usually have a fairly blocky head shape. The
body, however, looks perfect for GLGU. The wing extension beyond the tail
falls into a gray area, being a bit long for GLGU and a bit short for ICGU
but conceivability within the range of variation of both species. The outer
primaries do look slightly broader than those of ICGU with a more rounded
shape more typical of GLGU and the primaries often seemed to be slightly
disarrayed, something often seen on gull species larger than Herring.
Standing next to multiple Glaucous-winged Gulls, the Kent Gull is smaller
than all of them but only slightly. This is probably the strongest mark
against ICGU.
While the bird does have some odd features for either white-winged species
some characteristics are just too far out of the range of ICGU, but as is
the case for many odd gulls, it is difficult to be absolutely sure.

Some have mentioned the Greenland race of ICGU, glaucoides, which is perhaps
the only race of ICGU, but that is a completely different issue. Perhaps it
is worth pointing out that while glaucoides is suspected to occur in the US
and Canada, especially in Newfoundland, there are no as far as I and
everyone I have ever talked to about this subject, knows there are no, ZERO,
definite records. You would almost have to find a bird banded in the nest
in Greenland to confirm glaucoides in the US/Canada. The chances of a
glaucoides ICGU occurring in WA are quite slim. However bird with white or
virtually primaries do occur in the Canadian breeding colonies. These birds
are still considered to be kumlieni; I have seen several in Illinois.

Finally, while descriptive terms like "fierce" or "cute" do have the
potential to be misunderstood and cause misidentification, so do any number
of widely accepted field marks. This doesn't mean that we should not use
them only apply them carefully. The use of the word "fierce" is much more
concise than stating that the gull in question has a "large, heavy bill,
flat crown, small, bright yellow eye, thick neck and heavy chest". Many of
the best field birders that I know use descriptive terms frequently to
explain things to other birders. In most cases, people seem to really
connect with these terms and understand them better than long descriptions.
However, as Dennis stated, there are discernable reasons for why a bird may
give a certain impression. It is essential to understand what the reasons
are to use these impressions accurately.

I had several other things to say but if you are still reading this you will
be thrill to learn that I am instead wrapping things up. I encourage anyone
who has not seen the bird to go take a look. Not only is it rare to see an
adult GLGU, the opportunity to see such an interesting individual is not to
be missed. Good Luck. And for those who made it this far, there was a
Yellow-billed Loon at west beach of Deception Pass on Sunday.

Good birding to everyone,

Cameron Cox
Seattle
Cameron_cox at hotmail.com