December 2017 Quiz

Age: The upperparts on this bird have neat pale fringes that immediately suggest a juvenile. The jet-black bill and pointy tips to the primaries also support a 1st cycle individual.

Identification: The medium, even-brown, tones with very little contrast throughout the plumage is only expected in a couple of taxa in North America. An initial view of the extensive pale edging wrapped around the primary tips should call to mind juvenile Glaucous-winged Gull or Thayer's Gull. A date and location, or other birds in the frame for comparison, would easily settle this in the field, but we'll try to do without that information. Afterall, what do we have to lose?

A couple of salient features that Glaucous-wingeds regularly show - but not so much in thayeri - include a plain, muddied, greater covert panel. In thayeri, the greater coverts tend to show more internal markings with a frosted appearance - more illustrious, if you will.

The plain upper tail, plain tertial tips, plain scapulars and plain wing coverts nicely work together to shape this "muted" look we expect in Glaucous-winged Gull. Our December quiz bird is indeed a juvenile Glaucous-winged, photographed in King County, Washington during the first week of September.

For comparison, here's a juvenile Thayer's, photographed in the same county in late December:

Greater coverts show more internal markings, and overall, the upperparts are more contrasty and patterned. An ID like this, where Glaucous-wingeds and Thayer's overlap, must also take size and structure into consideration.

Monthly Notables November 2017

Sightings

• Sabine's Gull (1st cycle). Gila County, Arizona. 03 November 2017.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult). Los Angeles, County, California. 03 November 2017.
• Sabine's Gull (1st cycle). Lake County, Tennessee. 03 November 2017.
• Slaty-backed Gull (3rd cycle). Labrador-Happy Valley-Goose Bay County, Newfoundland & Labrador. 04 November 2017.
• 2nd record for Labrador. Incidentally, the 1st record was only last year in April 2016. That individual was an adult, found roughly 1 mile away from the 2017 bird.
• Great Black-backed Gull (2nd cycle type). Stark County, North Dakota. 05 November 2017.
• Little Gull (adult). Lawrence County, Alabama. 12 November 2017.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult). Inyo County, California. 12 November 2017.
• Black-headed Gull (adult). Butler County, Pennsylvania. 12 November 2017.
• A returning adult since at least 2011. 8 county records which may prove to be of the same individual.
• Thayer's Gull (1st cycle). Mohave County, Arizona. 17 November 2017.
• Only about the 15th record for the state.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (adult). Sedgwick County, Colorado. 16 November 2017.
• Little Gull (1st cycle). Okanagan-Similkameen District, British Columbia 17 November 2017.
• First record for the Okanagans.
• California Gull (adult). Lake County, Illinois. 19 November 2017.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (1st cycle). Scott County, Iowa. 20 November 2017.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (1st cycle). Washington County, Minnesota. 24 November 2017.
• Thayer's Gull (1st cycle). Accomack County, Virginia. 24 November 2017.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (1st cycle). Battleford County, Saskatchewan. 25 November 2017.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (2 - 1st cycle). Sangamon County, Illinois. 29 November 2017.
• Great Black-backed Gull (1st cycle). Polk County, Iowa. 30 November 2017.
• Rare for inland Iowa. 

Miscellaneous:

A relatively large influx of Ross's Gulls was found in the Gambell, Alaska region beginning on 13 November, and continued through the end of the month. Some estimates put numbers at 14-20 birds roaming the waters of the northwest portion of St. Lawrence Island.

Black-legged Kittiwakes were reported in above-average numbers, inland, on the western Great Lakes and beyond.

An adult 'Taimyr Gull' was reported in Sonoma County, California (24 November 2017). It's believed this individual is a returning bird, first found last winter. The taxonomy of this form remains unsettled and has yet to be clarified.

November 2017 Quiz

Age/Molt stage: This appears to be a large 3 or 4-year, large white-headed gull. Given the black markings on the tail, we can be sure it's not a definitive adult. It appears the outer primary is still growing in, as are some inner secondaries, and so the prebasic molt hasn't concluded.

Monthly Notables October 2017

Sightings

• Western Gull (adult). Skeena-Queen Charlotte County, B.C. 03 October 2017.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (4th cycle type). Pierce County, Washington. 05 October 2017.
• Sabine's Gull (juvenile). Brevard County, Florida. 07 October 2017.
• Mew Gull (adult). Laval, Québec. 10 October 2017.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult type). Portage, Manitoba. 11 October 2017.
• California Gull (3rd cycle type). Arthabaska County, Quebec. 11 October 2017.
• Little Gull (adult). Kitsap County, Washington. 13 October 2017.
• Laughing Gull (1st cycle). Kiowa County, Colorado. 15 October 2017.
• Little Gull (adult type). Marion County, Iowa. 15 October 2017.
• Slaty-backed Gull (3rd cycle). Clallam County, Washington. 16 October 2017.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (adult). Lethbridge County, Alberta. 18 October 2017.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult). San Diego County, California. 19 October 2017.
• Thayer's [Iceland] Gull (1st cycle). Seneca County, New York. 22 October 201

Miscellaneous Notes

• The first weekend in October was prime time for Ross's Gulls at Point Barrow, with a high count of 450 reported on 08 October 2017.
• An apparent Glaucous x Great-blacked hybrid (juvenile) was photographed in Henry County, Tennessee on 07 October 2017. This may be the first record of this hybrid this deep into the interior continental United States. Still being seen up to 21 October.

October 2017 Quiz

Age: The flight feathers, all-white tail and body feathers point to an adult-type, large white-headed gull (LWHG).

Identification: Our October bird is a black-backed gull with pink legs. In North America, we have two regularly occurring black-backeds with pink legs: Western and Great Black-backed, but this individual is neither.

Structurally, both Western and Great Black-backed Gull have noticeably different bills than what's seen here. Western typically shows a brighter yellow bill with a wider gonys angle - a bulbous-tipped bill, if you will. Great Black-backed's bill is much more stout and thick - a strong bill all throughout with a blunt tip.

Adult Western. Note the bulbous-tip and mustard-yellow orbital ring.

San Luis Obispo County, California. January.

Adult Great Black-backed. The gonys is swollen and the bill is thick throughout.

 Huron County, Ohio. November.

Notice in both of the images above there is very little in the way of head markings. Both of these black-backs average much less head markings than all of our other LWHGs, even in basic plumage. Also, neither possesses the menacing stare of our quiz bird, with eyes that appear to be encircled with mascara.

Perhaps of most importance when identifying this month's quiz gull is the wing pattern. Notice the remarkably thick white trailing edge, a glaring field mark that screams Slaty-backed Gull.

Here's a cropped image of this gull's right wingtip:

The white on the inner primary tips eats into the black edges with a so-called "string of pearls" on the adjacent mid-outer primaries (white tongue tips abutting the black sub-terminal bands on p5-p8).

A species that's generally increasing in North America, particularly on the Great Lakes in winter, this month's Slaty-backed Gull was photographed in Lake County, Illinois. February.

Monthly Notables September 2017

• Swallow-tailed Gull (adult). Snohomish County, Washington. 01 September 2017.
• Continued from 31 August 2017. Last seen at Point Wells on Sunday, 10 September.  
• Little Gull (juvenile). Inyo County, California. 02 September 2017.
• First county record. 
• Laughing Gull (juvenile). Taylor County, West Virginia. 02 September 2017.
• First sighting of the species in WV in nearly a decade.
• Sabine's Gull (juvenile). Fairfield County, Connecticut. 03 September 2017.
• 2nd State Record.
• Laughing Gull (juvenile). Les Basques County, Quebec. 04 September 2017.
• California Gull (adult). Denton County, Texas. 05 September 2017.
• Glaucous Gull (3rd cycle type). Kenosha County, Wisconsin. 07 September 2017.
• Franklin's Gull (adult). Hants County, Nova Scotia. 15 September 2017.
• Sabine's Gull (juvenile). District of Columbia County, DC. 04 September 2017.
• First record for Washington DC
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult). Teton County, Wyoming. 16 September 2017.
• Potential 1st record for Yellowstone NP and surrounding counties.
• Glaucous Gull (2nd cycle). Barnstable County, Massachusetts. 16 September 2017.
• First September record for MA.
• Iceland Gull (3rd cycle type). Suffolk County, New York. 16 September 2017.
• L.g. kumlieni. Likely summered in the region.
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (2nd cycle). Calgary County, Alberta. 16 September 2017.
• Great Black-backed Gull (adult).  Keith County, Nebraska. 17 September 2017.
• Laughing Gull (juvenile). Kiowa County, Colorado. 19 September 2017.
• Black-legged Kittiwake (juvenile). Troup County, Georgia. 20 September 2017.
• Rare and unseasonal. Storm-driven?

September 2017 Quiz

Age: Both of these gulls appear to be in their first plumage cycle. The overall plumage aspect of the larger bird in front, with lightly checkered wing coverts and lack of gray scapulars support this. What of the smaller bird in the back with gray coming in on the scapulars? This is a 3-year gull, and adult-like gray scapulars is not unexpected in the first cycle.

Identification: These two species happen to be the most expected, year-round, residents on the Great Lakes and much of eastern North America. The smaller individual is a hatch year Ring-billed Gull. The silvery-white greater coverts are helpful with this age group, as is its size and incoming gray scapulars (via preformative or prealternate molt). The larger individual in front with paling bill and nondescript upperparts is a hatch year Herring Gull. Although this age group of Herrings is highly variable, there is no other expected species that bares resemblance to this.

Knowing these two species is a requisite for anyone hoping to learn gull identification in North America. The size difference here is remarkable and should be used as a benchmark for gauging sizes of other taxa.