Thursday 16 February 2012

Kumlien`s Gull, possibly






This large white-winged gull has been making frequent visits to Frampton Marsh RSPB for the past week or so and has caused some excitement by showing signs of being a Kumlien`s Gull. Myself and Chris Orders paid a visit on Sunday to see the gull for ourselves.

This type of gull is commonly regarded as a hybrid of an Iceland Gull and Thayer`s Gull, or a sub-species of Iceland Gull, indeed its latin name is Larus glaucoides kumlieni which basically means Iceland Kumlien`s Gull. Very confusing.

The major identification point of this gull is the darker parts of its plumage. A true Iceland Gull is very pale and in some lights this bird looks like this, but you can see in the second photo that the bird has dark primary feathers ( the longest ones on the wing ) and in flight the bird had a dark band on the tail, both signs of kumlieni. The jury is still out on this bird, is it Kumlien`s or `just` a plain old Iceland? I don`t think we will find out definitively.

The kumlieni form comes from North-West Quebec and winters on the North American East coast, whereas the glaucoides form (Iceland) is from Greenland, wintering in the North Atlantic.

18 comments:

  1. I know very little about Gulls John, but looking at various images of both species I would say its a Kumlien. I say that because the pupil in eye looks bigger than that of an Iceland and more like a Kumlien.
    Whichever its a good tick and some nice images.

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    1. Hi Roy,
      Thank you. The eye is a good point as in Kumlien`s it is supposed to be darker, but this bird had a lighter iris, so who knows! I think it`s a Kumlien cross Iceland Gull! ;)
      J

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  2. Nice clear pictures of whatever it is, John. As someone who gets thoroughly confused by the less common gulls, and who has usually been less than successful with attempts to digiscope, I can only applaud.

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    1. Thank you John,
      Gulls are very confusing, but trying to master them is interesting, if a little frustrating!
      J

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  3. Gull ID's hmmmmm.
    I always have trouble with these birds.

    Much easier when I was a kid; they were all seagulls lol

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    1. Hi Keith,
      Everything was easier when we were younger, wasn`t it!
      There were only Herring Gulls and none of this Caspian and Yellow-legged Gull malarchy!
      By the way, there is no such bird as a seagull. ;)
      J

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    2. There was when I was a lad lol

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    3. I am sure they were gulls Keith ;)
      J

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  4. Beautiful Gull pictures, the Kumlien is a rare sort, keep on showing them.

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    1. Hi Bob,
      Thank you, but is it a Kumlien`s Gull? ;)
      J

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  5. Interesting bird and still nice to see whether it is Kumliens or Iceland :-)

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    1. Hi Alan,
      Thank you. Yes, it has provoked debate between me and Chris, but we are both still undecided on what it is!
      J

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  6. Nice captures whichever gull it is, John! Apart from the more common ones I struggle with ID but I suppose like all things it needs time and practice. As Keith says when you're a child they are just seagulls, much simpler.

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    1. Hi Jan,
      Thank you. Yes, gull i.d. is an art all to itself!
      There are no seagulls, just gulls. ;)
      J

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    1. Hi bazza,
      Thank you! And you know quite a lot from what I have seen!
      J

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  8. Good digiscoped images John.
    Having made very basic gull id mistakes recently John I am saying nothing. I take it you have ticked 'Kumlien'?

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    1. Hi Mike,
      Thank you. As for making i.d. mistakes with gulls, let he cast the first stone etc etc!
      I haven`t `ticked` Kumlien`s as it is only classed as a sub-species at the moment, but I have got it just in case they split it from Iceland at some point!
      J

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