[texbirds] Re: Gull Guides, etc.

  • From: Clay Taylor <Clay.Taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "robertclee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <robertclee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2014 12:37:35 -0500

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 

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-----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

 



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  • » [texbirds] Re: Gull Guides, etc. - Clay Taylor