Thayer's Gull? "Kumlien's"?

[Terry Sohl]

Any thoughts on species here? When I saw him, I immediately thought Thayer's, but other folks have given me other opinions. Never heard of "Kumlien's" before (Thayer's/Iceland cross?), but that's what some folks have told me.

Thoughts? We don't get all that many Thayer's in South Dakota, so I haven't had much for good looks at the species. This one was taken along the coast in San Francisco 2 weeks ago.

Additional clues, not apparent here. It had pink legs, and for size, I have several photos of it swimming next to Western Gulls, and it is obviously smaller than those.

Canon 50D, 400 5.6L, ISO400, 1/1000, f6.3, no flash.

[Fabs Forns]

Sorry, no help on the ID. If you can't get it here, I suggest you repost it in the Bird ID Forum. Lovely pose and EXP, a bit tight all around, especially on the left. Thanks for sharing this one with us :)

[Jeff Nadler]

Kumliens is the default Iceland gull on the northeast coast in winter. It breeds in Iceland and Greenland. Since your photo is from the west coast, the chances of it being a Thayers is stronger. Very hard to ID.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the pose and droplets. Jeff's ID makes sense to me. I also find it quite hard to ID these guys.

[Wayne Richardson]

Kumliens is the default Iceland gull on the northeast coast in winter. It breeds in Iceland and Greenland. Since your photo is from the west coast, the chances of it being a Thayers is stronger. Very hard to ID.

Hi Jeff

I was the one who suggested this was a Kumlien's when Terry posted this image on another site. I've repeated my comments below:

A nice selection of images, which certainly helps the ID process. However, I don't think this is a (pure) Thayer's given the relatively pale primaries. This is one reason why some went for Glaucous-winged, but I agree your gull is a lot smaller than that species!

As with a lot of immature gulls, this shows mixed features, but I would age it as somewhere between 2nd summer & 3rd winter. The plumage details & primaries shade suggest Kumlien's to me. I note that 'Gulls of Europe, Asia & N America - Olsen & Larsson' states that individuals showing features of this 'race' of Iceland Gull are regular in California. You have to bear in mind that Kumlien's, believed to be hybrid between Thayer's & Iceland, can show the full range of features between the 2 parents.

A good find non-the-less!

However, another 'Kumlien' type feature that I didn't highlight previously are the pale eyes of this immature gull. Thayer's generally have dark eyes regardless of age & only 10% of adults have pale eyes!

Cheers: Wayne