glaucoides - kumlieni

(last update: January 26, 2012)

Kumlien's Gull (kumlieni) adult, March 01 2010, Njardvik, SW Iceland. Picture: Hans Larsson.

Age adult winter. Classic bird.

Primary category: Stage 2, darker grey marks on the outer three to four primaries with subterminal marks on one to three primaries. Sub-terminal band broken on P8; not scored stage 3, as then it should have "complete subterminal bands" on one to three primaries. (see: primary patterns for explanation). Within the classification, about 11% of Kumlien's Gulls in New Foundland fall into this category.

Yellow iris with dark pigmentation. Class 2: yellow iris, 1% > 5% speckling. (see chart).

Note: Hans Larsson presents many images on this site, all birds photographed late February - early March in Iceland. Identification on sub-species level is tentative in these birds, as both Canadian kumlieni and nominate glaucoides (bulk of the birds of course) may be expected late winter. On location, most birds will belong to pale glaucoides, (and most are readily identified as such, showing very pale to white plumage), but in the spectrum, the exact line between dark glaucoides and pale kumlieni is still subject of debate and birds in this overlapping zone may probably best left unidentified at time present.
See als Hans Larsson's website.