Tweets et al.,

At the risk of boring those of you who are not gull fanatics, I would like
to respond to Cameron Cox's commentary, which is interesting but to me not
convincing.

While I give the nod to Cameron with regard to his experience on the East
Coast with Iceland Gulls, I will note only that I've been studying gulls on
the West Coast mostly, but wherever, for 40 years.

First point, with regard to the bill length, according to Cameron the Kent
bird's bill "appears long with length being ~1/3 greater than the distance
between the base of the bill and the back of the eye...."

I printed two of Marv Breeces photos, including one close on head shot, and
two of George Gerdts' photos, all in perfect profile. I measured the length
of the culmen ridge in a straight line from the forward edge of the
feathering at the base of the bill to the bill tip (cutting across the curve
of the bill), then projected this distance from the same point on the base
of the bill to the eye. In every case, the bill length equalled the distance
from the bill base to the front edge of the iris.

I made the same comparison on several Iceland Gull photos in P. J. Grant's
_Gulls_ book and the bill length versus bill base to eye comparison was
exactly the same as on the photos of the Kent bird. I then did the same with
several photos in Grant of Glaucous Gulls, Herring Gulls, and a Great
Black-backed, just for fun. For the Glaucous and Herring the bill length was
equal to the distance from the base of the bill to the far edge of the eye,
while on the Great Black-backed it fell some distance behind the eye.

In short, this test certainly would seem to support the identification of
the bird as an Iceland Gull.

Also, with regard to the occurrence of glaucoides Iceland Gulls in the
Northeast, I quote Grant to the effect that:

"Nominate glaucoides.... largely sedentary or wintering Iceland or (in
smaller numbers) mainly coastal northwest Europe (these probably mainly from
east Greenland), or wintering sparingly in northeast North America (these
probably from west Greenland);..." (pg. 151, Fig. 48 caption).

W. Earl Godfrey's _The Birds of Canada_ states that "Larus glaucoides
glaucoides Meyer, which breeds in Greenland, is only a transient and winter
resident in Canada, being found over much the same winter grounds as
kumlieni but much less commonly" (pg. 176).

Why a pure white-winged Iceland Gull in the Maritimes or New England should
be considered kumlieni is a puzzle, as according to Grant kumlieni is
"identical to glaucoides in size, structure, progression of immature
plumages and moult timings: differences from glaucoides are... [for adults,
nothing more than the dark markings in the wing tips, unknown in
glaucoides]" (pg. 152). It is also worth noting that the distance across
Davis Strait from west Greenland to Baffin Island (where kumlieni breeds) is
just 200 miles.

As for the overall size issue, Iceland Gulls are but slightly smaller on
average than Thayer's with extensive overlap, and to my eye the Kent bird is
no larger in comparison to Glaucous-winged Gulls than many, if not most
Thayer's.

So, it sure looks like an Iceland Gull to me. And, if it waddles like a
duck, flaps like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.

Gene Hunn
18476 47th Pl NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
enhunn323 at omcast.net


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jessie Barry" <jhbirds384 at hotmail.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 7:00 AM
Subject: [Tweeters] Kent Gull


> 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
>
>
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