birding-aus

Silver Gull Hybrids?

To: Birding-aus <>
Subject: Silver Gull Hybrids?
From: "Evan Beaver" <>
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2006 16:58:21 +1100
All,
I agree that the Gull in question has black stuff on it's head, and isn't
morphing into some sort of BH Gull/Silver gull hybrid. What's not so
obvious, and why we were interested in the bird in the first place is the
shorter, darker bill. This is a mutation I've noticed before, even as a
youngster, and I was wondering if it is a recognised variant, or just a
quirk, like red hair?

Evan


On 8/30/06, Tom Tarrant <> wrote:

Hi Evan,

Looks like it could be oil-residue to me, I bet there would be a few
'slicks' off the coast of Wollongong.

Tom

 On 8/30/06, Evan Beaver <> wrote:

> The following is a link to a photo of a Gull that Alistair took on the
Wollongong Pelagic:

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m217/evanbb/def51473.jpg

I'm pretty sure it's a Silver Gull, but I wonder if there's more to it. Do

they hybridise with the Black-Headed Gulls? Or is it some sort of
sub-species. I remember, even as a youngster watching the seagulls and
noticing an occasional bird that was pretty much a SIlver Gull, except a
little bit different; in particular a shorter deeper red beak. My
suspicion
is that, like Fer Pigeons, they breed so prolifically and haphazardly that
the odd mutation must occur, and that these will often involve the
expression of a 'set' of genes; like the red-checker and blue-checker
pigeons. Any thoughts or corrections?

Evan

--
Evan Beaver
Lapstone, Blue Mountains, NSW
lat=-33.77, lon=150.64
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Tom & Marie Tarrant
Samsonvale, Qld

http://www.aviceda.org
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--
Evan Beaver
Lapstone, Blue Mountains, NSW
lat=-33.77, lon=150.64
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