Subject: [Tweeters] Kalaloch Gull
Date: May 1 07:46:46 2007
From: sgmlod at aol.com - sgmlod at aol.com


Greetings All

First: Dark eyes do not fit heuglini, Yellow-legged Gull, or Lesser BB Gull in adult or subadult plumage. So, with all due respect to Keith whom I like and respect, the dark eyes of these odd dark-mantled gulls is just as "incorrect" for heuglini or most (all?) Yellow-legged Gull taxa as it is for LBBG.

Second: Most (all?) authorities consider adult heuglini inseparable from LBBG. So, while it is interesting to consider the possibility they might occur here, there is no way of proving it one way or the other. Even the ID of immatures is highly speculative.

Third: I've heard no one cast the Kalaloch bird as a LBBG. Indeed, the mantle color seems too pale for that species as well as heuglini (which many consider a race of LBBG anyway).

Fourth: Yellow legs on any 2nd cycle gull seems a bit odd. Howell found that a striking percentage of Western Gulls at this time of year (they were adults, not imms) had yellow legs in central California. I point this out only to demonstrate that leg color is variable and should be used with some caution. As to eye color, a 2nd cycle gull of HEGU, YLGU, or LBBG could all have dark or light eyes at this point, so I am not sure what to make of that. And then there is albertaensis Cal Gulls. These are relatively pale-backed (I called one a HEGU for a bit in Baja this winter), dark eyed, and as adults have bright yellow legs. I believe there may be overlap between this taxon and HEGU in size. Besides, the bill and leg color/pattern are not quite right for a 2nd cycle HEGU/YLGU/LBBG (if I read and remember all correctly), and are more suggestive of a Cal Gull. So, aberrant Cal Gull vs aberrant vagrant taxon vs ???

Gull ID is difficult enough with a series of good photos. So, I wish we'd more on this intriguing bird, but???

I am not sure what to make of the possible LBBG with dark eyes reported from e WA this winter. I've not considered them in detail, and they've not been reviewed by the WBRC. All previous LBBG adults or subadults have had pale eyes. Again, if they did have dark eyes, that would be as wrong for heuglini as LBBG.

Cheers
Steve Mlodinow
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