Gull advice

[paulos]

I'm looking for advice on a possibly pure Western Gull from Bailey Landfill this week.

I have a few blurry pictures. The gull seemed to have solid black wing tips. Its mantle was noticeably darker gray than nearby GWGUs and hybrids, though perhaps not as dark as it might have been to clinch the ID. Head was clean from streaks. Bill seemed somewhat bulbous, with a possible red mark. One blurry photo shows the large white mark on the tip of the underwing, as in Western. I couldn't gauge the eye colour at all from photos or by scope. No obvious gray on primaries anywhere. It's at least mostly Western, but I'm looking for advice on whether this could be purely Western.

Here are the photos I managed, with digital zoom and some colour editing to brighten the photos.

[paulos]

Actually, I found one more photo that is clearer, and definitely shows the bulgy bill of a Western, and possibly a lighter iris.

[Jon]

Did you see the wing open?
If there is any gray in the open wing (trailing edge of the primaries) you can write it off as a mostly Western.

I've had 2 this winter that unfortunately weren't quite pure. Gord and Dave have some nice photos of one

[Jon]

Here are my photos of the two I'd have wanted to claim as Western.

This first bird is clearly a better match than the other with a nice clean head and bright bill, but the primaries are incriminating:


Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) at Sardis Park by Jonathan Pap


Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) at Sardis Park by Jonathan Pap



This bird has some grayish to the head, and the black on the bill on an otherwise adult-looking bird is questionable:


Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) at Sardis Park by Jonathan Pap


Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) at Sardis Park by Jonathan Pap



In my opinion, something that looks >=97% like the right phenotype should be countable

[Jon]

In short, I don't think we can safely identify your bird from the pictures, so it's up to your observation skills.

To answer the question, I think that "Yes, this could be a pure Western".

The bill in the last picture seems almost too big, but given the photo quality I wouldn't discount it just on that.

[paulos]

Thanks for the detailed feedback, Jon! Unfortunately, I didn't see any more details than are visible in the pictures. I didn't see it in flight. It's hard to tell if the first photo shows some gray in the underside of the primaries. So I'll leave it lumped with the other hybrids.