Which Gull is this? (...on Rare Bird Alert)

[Jason Green]

Hi all,

I saw this on the Rarity Gallery on Rare Bird Alert's Gallery pages. It says Common Gull, which wouldn't be a rarity. Then in the caption, it says 'Or possibly a Mew Gull'. Then I realised that Mew is another term for the Common Gull.

Rare Bird Alert - Rarity Gallery

Which Gull do you think this is - have I missed something?

Take care,

Jason

[Bellow]

No you,ve not missed anything ,they are the same bird.Consult your bird bible and you,ll find it.

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by Bellow

No you,ve not missed anything ,they are the same bird.Consult your bird bible and you,ll find it.

No, they are not the same bird in the context that Jason is referring to.

While it's true that the term 'Mew Gull' is sometimes applied as a generic term for all taxa within the Common Gull complex. In the uk, when we refer to 'Mew Gull' as distinct from Common Gull (canus) we are referring specifically to the N. American race (brachyrhynchos) (called a Mew Gull in America) which is now regarded as a potential vagrant to NW Europe (but has actually only been recorded once in the western pal in the Azores).

I can't help with the identification criteria to separate them personally - the putative 'Mew Gull' is showing many features of both heinei and brachyrhynchos. While it's certainly not a typical 2cy Common Gull canus it does show some overlapping features of all three. I'll leave this one to the real experts!!! The following discussion of the Azores brachyrhynchos will be very helpful

Surfbirds - Mew Gull Identification

- I believe it's extremely difficult since some northern european races of our european Common Gulls (heinei) (which have been recorded - through ringing recovery, Britain afaik) look very similar to the American race (and the British race). Certainly makes you want to look more closely at flocks of Common Gulls!