Lesser Black-backed Gull at Broome tip

[Dimitris Bertzeletos <>]

Kelp Gulls have hybridized with American Herring Gulls and Western Gulls (??) 
where their ranges overlap somewhere in North America. I forget the details.

If it is a hybrid I would think that it was probably born in the Northern 
Hemisphere.

Cheers,

D.

> From: 
> To: ; 
> Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:20:01 +1100
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Lesser Black-backed Gull at Broome tip
> 
> G'day Stephen,
> 
> An interesting hypothesis, but I wonder at the combined probabilities of
> first off a Baltic/Heuglin's finishing up in SA and secondly hybridizing
> with a Kelp/Cape Gull then finally the offspring finding its way to Broome
> and being seen by a birder. They are probably rather long odds I would
> suggest.
> 
> Cheers Jeff.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: 
>  On Behalf Of Stephen
> Ambrose
> Sent: Wednesday, 23 January 2013 6:36 PM
> To: 
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Lesser Black-backed Gull at Broome tip
> 
> I'm clearly not experienced or qualified enough to identify this bird, but I
> have been following this discussion with interest.
> 
> What I have discerned from the discussions so far is that the bird in the
> photo does not fit neatly into what we would expect for a single species.  I
> have also gathered that the experts seem to be leaning towards one of three
> species:  Heuglin's Gull (Larus heuglini), Lesser Black-backed Gull (L.
> fuscus) and Kelp Gull (L. dominicanus).
> 
> A possible identification, combining peoples' comments about the gull with
> Greg's helpful link to an explanation of ring species (thanks Greg) is a
> heuglini/fuscus hybrid. But Jeff and some of the northern hemisphere gull
> experts are concerned that this bird has some features that don't match
> those of Heuglin's or Lesser-backed Gulls.  It has been further suggested
> that the bird is a Kelp Gull (L. dominicanus), but there is still a lot of
> unease with this identification.
> 
> Is it possible, therefore, that at a Heuglin's or Lesser Black-backed Gull
> (or a hybrid of the two) has strayed or has been blown out of arctic waters,
> or even carried by ship, to the southern African or South American coastline
> and interbred with a Kelp Gull, and a resultant hybrid has made it to the WA
> coastline?  It's just a thought, unlikely to be correct, and which may be
> supported or rejected if DNA can be extracted from feather pulp, as
> suggested by Jeff.
> 
> Stephen Ambrose
> Ryde, NSW
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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