[Tweeters] possible Iceland Gull at mouth of Cedar River

[Northwest birding e-mail]

It appears that the excerpt by Nick Mrvelj wasn’t included on my response.
Hopefully it goes through now:

“Interesting gull. At first glance, I thought this was a good candidate for
a GWGU x GLGU. However, after a deeper dive, I feel that Emily may be on to
something in regard to this individual having a pigment issue. I agree that
the hue of the mantle and primaries just seems a bit off for a Seward Gull;
the former a bit too pale and oddly mottled and the latter a weird pale,
brownish hue (which translates to me as primaries that should look blackish
but have a melanin deficiency). The size and shape of the bill seems good
for an Olympic Gull (or even a Western Gull or GWGU). I wonder if the iris
has a similar pigment issue, which is why its so pale? The coloration of
other bare parts, like the legs and bill, seem normal.”

- Alex Sowers

On Mon, Jan 18, 2021 at 7:17 PM Northwest birding e-mail <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:


> Hey tweets,

>

> It seems like this bird has been around for quite some time now and at

> this point has been photographed quite a bit. I’ve seen this bird

> consistently identified to multiple species/hybrids (like Glaucous,

> Glaucous x Herring, Kumlien’s Iceland, and Glaucous-winged x Glaucous) and

> yet there has never appeared to be a really solid ID on this bird. The

> general consensus amongst reviewers, or at least the one who confirmed it,

> seems to be that this is Glaucous-winged x Glaucous Gull (hybrid). However,

> many other experts believe that this is just a Glaucous-winged with pigment

> issues and not a Glaucous-winged with any other species in it (except maybe

> Western just because).

>

> I am no gull expert myself and don’t have any experience with

> Glaucous-winged x Glaucous, but i’d have to say that this is likely just a

> Glaucous-winged with pigment issues. The structure is pretty typical for a

> Glaucous-winged/Western type bird (not that that’s a big deal) and the

> weird brown tones and faint mottling all point towards a bird with pigment

> issues.

>

> Here’s a better explanation by Nick Mrvelj:

>

> “Interesting gull. At first glance, I thought this was a good candidate

> for a GWGU x GLGU. However, after a deeper dive, I feel that Emily may be

> on to something in regard to this individual having a pigment issue. I

> agree that the hue of the mantle and primaries just seems a bit off for a

> Seward Gull; the former a bit too pale and oddly mottled and the latter a

> weird pale, brownish hue (which translates to me as primaries that should

> look blackish but have a melanin deficiency). The size and shape of the

> bill seems good for an Olympic Gull (or even a Western Gull or GWGU). I

> wonder if the iris has a similar pigment issue, which is why its so pale?

> The coloration of other bare parts, like the legs and bill, seem normal.”

>

> All that being said, I am no gull expert, but it appears that this gull

> isn’t going to have a solid ID anytime soon.

>

> - Alex Sowers

>

> On Mon, Jan 18, 2021 at 6:55 PM Northwest birding e-mail <

> tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>

>> I saw a bird that fits Odette's description in October at the Cedar River

>> mouth. In addition to what Odette described the bird has yellow eyes. I

>> have some poor digiscoped photos here:

>> http://www.birdingwashington.info/Pics/gull

>>

>> If you right click on an image and select "View Image" you can see the

>> photo at full size.

>>

>> Odette has seen these photos and thinks it may be the same bird.

>>

>> Does anyone have an idea what it is?

>>

>> Thanks,

>>

>> Randy Robinson

>> Seattle, WA

>> rwr DOT personal AT gmail DOT com

>>

>> > On Jan 18, 2021, at 12:46 PM, Odette B. James <o.b.james...> wrote

>> >

>> >The possible Iceland Gull has returned to the delta of the Cedar River

>> at

>> >the south end of Lake Washington. It is with other gulls on a patch of

>> >gravel exposed among the logs on the submerged delta. The bird has a

>> very

>> >pale mantle and pink legs, is an adult (has red gonydeal spot on bill),

>> is

>> >smaller than nearby Glaucous winged, has no streaking on back and sides

>> of

>> >neck. There at 12:30 in the afternoon on Jan. 18.

>>

>>

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