Thayer's Gull (thayeri)

(last update: January 22, 2013)

Glaucous-winged x Herring "Cook-Inlet" Gull glaucescens x smithsonianus 2nd cycle (2CY), November 05 2006, Vancouver Island, BC. Picture: Guy Monty.

Visit: Guy's Flickr photostream.

Bulbuous bill. Some similarity to Thayer's Gull, but HYBRID GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL X AMERICAN HERRING GULL larger overall with longer and stouter bill, but plumage can overlap with Thayer’s. Some presumed hybrids resemble Thayer’s closely and may be difficult to identify without known species for size and structure comparison, but most hybrids are bulkier with larger bills.

So best separated from Thayer’s by structure, especially bigger bill; plumage characters need study.

below: Cook-Inlet Gull glaucescens x smithsonianus 2nd cycle (2CY), November 22 2006, Vancouver Island, BC. Picture: Guy Monty.

Another bird with slightly thinner bill, 2 weeks later.