To: Calbird@kiwi.net
Subject: [CALBIRD] The Doheny Gull
From: MTHEINDEL@aol.com
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 20:16:28 EST

A few of us studied the reported Kumlien's Gull. Our looks were stunning as it preened at point blank range. At one point I could get little more than its tail in my Questar view. It also flew a few times for us and, with luck, I will have some very nice flight photos. A couple comments.

First, I continue to feel that if you were back east, this bird is a Kumlien's. No problem. I find the comment that this is either a Kumlien's or glaucoides amazing. No, that is not the case. This bird may be a Kumlien's or might be sufficiently intergraded with Thayer's to render it unidentifiable to (sub) species. Second, since there is this gravitational pull to put a name on this bird, I've come up with "Bob" so at least it is in a box. The sad part is, this is a neat gull and worth lots of study time. The need to get it in the right box seems out of kilter.

The major difference between my original notes, Don Roberson's notes and the pictures will be covered. But, as a starter, picture a bird that is rather Kumlien's like but slightly on the darker side. Or, start with a Thayer's and use whiteout. With these frame filling views today, two things struck us: 1) the tertials are subtly different than I had previously recorded. They still look largely white with brown flecks. But, close views show some brown in the center of the feather, along the web and bleeding half way out the outer web at times. It is pale and easy to miss at any distance. Then, there are holly leaf patterns showing as dark flecks at a distance. I had originally thought the tertials were great for Kumlien's and bad for Thayer's and still feel they are better for Kumlien's, but there is slightly more color in the center than previously thought. 2) the tail is weird. I know Don has noted bands which seem to show on the photos, but this is not the impression all of us had today. The outer rects are barred. R6 through R3 have a fairly large white tip, thinning on R2 and R1. This white bleeds up on the outer web of R5 and R4 a bit. It was not white flecks in the brown tail, more just a white wash of sorts. Hard to describe, but not leaving a speckled tail. Most of R1 and R2, and slightly more than half of R3 and R4 seem to be virtually uniform coffee. Of course, this is not a typical Thayer's tail. But, it is not the speckled tail of Kumlien's and probably lies somewhere in the middle.

On a number of flight views, the pale secondary bar was evident. I am reasonably comfortable that Kumlien's can show this (but who knows for certain these are not characters of intergradation?) and it is not as dark as we expect on Thayer's. But, the secondary bar was evident. These flight views also gave a different view of the tail, one that makes it look white tipped but uniform coffee colored in the center. Not a tail band, as that implies something near the tip.

What does it mean? I still dunno. I suspect it is a Kumlien's, but just do not have the conviction (or need) to put it in a category. Don and I discussed a Jehl type scale (which Jehl developed for oystercatchers) for this complex. Perhaps that is a reasonable thing to do. Of course, the obvious problem is where you make your definitions. We have to remember that we are winging it here. This is a can of worms that no one has sorted out so being firm in one's position seems unwise. (Unless you are being firm that Bob is a neat looking gull, in which case I would agree.)

I will try to get photos posted if they come out. Happy gulling-

Matt Heindel
mtheindel@aol.com
Irvine CA