All: Though I would put Colorado's birding community above nearly all other US state's [note that the apostrophe indicates possession and should not be used in simple plurals -- aargh], there are relatively few CO birders that really study gulls, though most of those are active participants in Cobirds. Having spent 14 years in CO, much of that looking at gulls, I can tell you that the situation in the state with Cal Gulls is not that clear, at least outside the breeding season. While I have seen undoubted albertaensis Cal Gulls in the state, such definitiveness has been rare.
The large number of WY breeders are considerably closer than is albertaensis, though, of course, they are supposed to move west, even northwest upon departure from that state. Regardless, CO receives a large number of Cal Gulls from elsewhere in fall (the CO breeding population comes nowhere near close to explaining the fall CO population), with a small number lingering into the CBC season (and fewer spending the entire winter). Unfortunately, the distance at which most Cal Gulls are seen in CO preclude definitive evaluation of subspecies. However, my experience with the species in the state is that one sees Gal Gulls that one might, on a quick view, confuse with LessBack (on mantle color) and others that one might confuse with Smithsonian Gull (aka Herring Gull). I have little doubt that the latter are referable to albertaensis, though as stated above, being able to be certain of that usually eludes us. Regardless, the nominate subspecies of Cal Gull is, in my experience, the predominant form occurring in CO, and probably at the ratio of 4:1 or higher. Sincerely, Tony Leukering Villas, NJ -----Original Message----- From: cobirds+noreply <[email protected]> To: Digest Recipients <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, Dec 2, 2010 4:02 am Subject: [cobirds] Digest for [email protected] - 9 Messages in 9 Topics Topic: California Gull Question (no sighting) Amar Ayyash <[email protected]> Nov 30 04:06PM -0800 ^ Thanks for the reply, Bill. As Howell and others have mentioned, not a whole lot is known about the range limits of these two races outside of the breeding season. I would think that the lower Colorado Front Range is, geographically, an ideal contact zone in fall. It would be great if Colorado birders documented their sightings with concise notes and photographs. I will assume that the nominate race predominates in Colorado as a couple of birders have already emailed me off list with this suggestion. With regards to wingtip pattern, I witnessed a few presumed L.c. albertaensis individuals at Cherry Creek that had very large white mirrors on P10 and P9 with complete white tips to P10. The mantle color and size of these individuals were far removed from any "textbook" albertaensis; they were about Ring-billed size with dark, bluish mantles and so the primary pattern certainly failed me. It's my understanding that this mark should only be used as extra support and now I completely agree with this advice. In addition, there is some overlap in the gray tongues on P7 and so caution should also be used here. The best method for assigning races is through side-by-side comparisons (adults only) and this is what I would encourage birders to do. It wouldn't be very difficult to get side-by-side photos (a loaf of bread goes a long way). Size and mantle color should rule. A smallish (Ring-billed size or slightly bigger) California with a darker mantle (with more of a bluish hue) would fit the nominate race, californicus. A larger (Herring Gull size and slightly smaller) California with a paler mantle would fit the subspecies, albertaensis. Of course these are generalizations but they're Joseph Jehl's guidelines for telling these two apart in the field. I'm still hopeful that someone can verify having seen albertaensis candidates in Colorado. Kind regards, Amar Ayyash Frankfort IL http://anythinglarus.blogspot.com/ ________________________________ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Sent: Tue, November 30, 2010 3:08:34 PM Subject: Re: [cobirds] California Gull Question (no sighting) California Gulls in Colorado, This is such a great two part question and I only have a partial answer to it, and I admittedly mostly suck at gulls but..., L.c. californicus, the nominate subspecies, breeds in central Colorado, southeastern Wyoming, and west to areas like Mono Lake, CA (Gulls of the Americas, Howell an Dunn, p. 396). The other subspecies, L.c. albertaensis, (slightly smaller and darker gray mantle, Stokes Guide to Birds of N.A.) breeds from the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, to eastern Alberta and Saskatchewan, south to southwestern Manitoba and northeastern North Dakota and "possibly has a more southerly winter distribution" (Gulls of the Americas) which could easily put albertaensis birds in CO in winter in my opinion, although the darker gray mantles in our winter birds are easily seen compared to Ring-bills and adult American Herring Gulls. Both subspecies move mainly to the west coast in the winter south to as far as to the Pacific side of the Isthmus in MX. Looking at specific photographs in the Gulls of the Americas book, even the authors write "presumed" blah blah subspecies name, although they say the coloration of albertaensis mantle can approach the mantle coloration of Ring-billed and Herring gulls. Howell and Dunn say to look at (photos best) P7 (count in from the outermost primary, p10) of the birds in flight, with L.c. albertaensis having "longer and whiter-tipped gray tongue" than our breeder, L.c. californicus. Having said this, I really don't see a big difference in the very close photos in their book, except maybe the gray tongue is slightly longer on P7 in the example on page 155. For sure, looking at photos of birds in flight, compared to ones I.D.'ed to known subspecies, might be the only way to go. Perched birds, at least for me, are just Cal Gulls. Just as interesting, Bob and Bob tell us that California Gull has expanded its range dramatically in the last half century. They, the Cal Gulls, not Bob and Bob, didn't start nesting at Antero Res until 1965, at Adobe Creek Res in 1988, and there were no CO winter records until 1960, and they were not regular in winter until the mid-1970s; hard to believe if you bird the larger CO reservoirs before freeze up in the past 10 years. If there are museum specimens from the last 10 years taken in the winter, this would help answer Amar's question much better. Bill Maynard Colorado Springs On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:07:24 -0800 (PST) Amar Ayyash <[email protected]> writes: > Thanks, > Amar Ayyash > Frankfort IL ____________________________________________________________ Obama Urges Homeowners to Refinance If you owe under $729k you probably qualify for Obama's Refi Program SeeRefinanceRates.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. 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