Hybrid Gulls- Larus sp.
Second-winters : North America
2nd-years - click on the links to go directly to the bird
Large North America west coast gull are a melting pot of hybrids of various ages and generations with most not being straight forward as one would hope in assigning parentage. Is it a Glaucous-winged Gull at the darker end of the scale to be a genuine bird or is it a hybrid? Is that first-winter dark gull with paler wing-coverts just a variation or is there mixed blood at play. Because of this and the fact I needed two of the gulls for my world gulls list it was major part in me returning to California several times.
I have covered a number of the ages and presumed hybrids in the following pages however as my experience of west coast hybrids is limited to not much more than a few weeks I may be wrong in some of my tentative identifications.
Glaucous-winged Gull, 2nd winter: Goat Rock Beach, Jenner California, USA - 26th November 2009
(same bird above and immediately below)
A monster sized bird which appears to be overall to dark for a pure Glaucous-winged Gull thus probably a Western x Glaucous-winged Gull second-year hybrid; primaries and tail certainly look to dark for a pure bird.
Aged as second year due to plain wing-coverts, tertials and scapulars; pale base forming to the bill and the rounded primary tips.
