All - I doubt that there will ever be a perfect gull guide, in no small part to the fact that our knowledge of gull ID (especially for immature gulls) is constantly evolving. Heck, an entire volume could be written for the "H word" gulls, although it would probably be better done as an online Wikipedia-format guide. ;-) Personally, for help with an odd gull, I would go to Martin Reid's website and cross-reference to the existing gull guides. When Jon McIntyre found the immie Slaty-backed Gull on Mustang Island, I had gull guides spread across my kitchen table, comparing them to my photos. None had it exactly right, but the consensus fit nicely. 30+ years ago I decided that the "best field guide" was in fact a stack of them - the more reference info you had, the better your chances of finding the information you needed. Back then, my "stack" was the Peterson guide, the Golden Guide (Chandler Robbins), the Audubon Guides (Richard Pough), and the Audubon Photo Guides (Bull and Farrand). Between multiple illustrations and photos, text that ranged from sparse to thorough, and range maps that sometimes were questionable, I could puzzle out what it was that I just saw. Now, of course, the Sibley and National Geographic guides are at the top of the stack, with the Stokes and Kauffman photo guides close by. When necessary, I still refer to them all. In the early 80s, along came Peter Harrison's "Seabirds" book, which opened the doors to all sorts of specialized field guides - warblers, hummers, sparrows, etc. My book shelves got very crowded. I cannot WAIT for Harrison's revision to "Seabirds". Oh yes, while not especially meant for field use, I think that Peter Pyle's two volumes of "Identification Guide to North American Birds" are absolutely ESSENTIAL additions to your bird book shelves. Clay Taylor Swarovski Optik North America, Inc. Naturalist Market Manager 800-426-3089 x2959 Cell 401-965-9064 Clay.taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This communication may contain information that is legally privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, please note that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. Anyone who receives this message in error should notify the sender immediately by telephone or by return e-mail and delete this communication entirely from his or her computer. -----Original Message----- From: texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of rOB lEE Sent: Wednesday, January 01, 2014 9:38 PM To: leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [texbirds] Re: [leasbirds] Retraction of two gull sightings Let us know if you identify that better gull guide From: leasbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:leasbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Anthony Hewetson Sent: Wednesday, January 01, 2014 1:12 PM To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [leasbirds] Retraction of two gull sightings Greetings All: Based on the comments of an anonymous gull expert recruited to review our e-bird records of a second winter Lesser Black-backed Gull on 12/24/13 and a first winter California Gull on 12/25/13 - both at Lake Ridge Golf Course - it appears that over-reliance on field guides rife with errors and inadequate knowledge about potential size variation in the 'American' Herring Gull led at least two observers (including myself) down the primrose path to misidentification of subadult gulls. This is not the first time this will happen and probably not the last? Reviewing the comments of the gull expert and several specialty websites on gull identification, we focussed too much on ruling out Ring-billed Gull and didn't pay enough consideration to the fact that some 'smithsonianus' Herring Gulls can be scarce larger than Ring-billed Gulls and are potentially confused with some of the so-called mid-sized gulls. Apparently, we should have been a tad more focussed on ruling out Herring Gull! This certainly seems to be the case with the California Gull - neither the description or the photographs obtained rule out an exceptionally small Herring Gull. This is a bit less the case with the Lesser Black-backed Gull - some described traits are inconsistent for Lesser Black-backed Gull (particularly the bill color - misillustrated in just about every field guide out there as bicolored) and some described traits are inconsistent with Herring Gull - but there is enough confusion in the description to warrant rejection by e-bird and by the ABA compiler for the region. Consequently, both records will be rejected. I am also in the process of reviewing previous reports of California Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull from the LEAS region in order to cull any potentially bad records. I suspect that most of the first winter records will survive the process but there is a good chance that all second winter records will be, at the minimum, asterisked. The moral of the story: there is nothing worse than trying to identify first and second winter birds with the conventional field guides in hand. Off to find a better gull guide suggestions would be appreciated. Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner