Above:This Slaty-backed Gull, the second for Texas, was at Balmorhea Lake,Reeves County 1-10 (here 7) December 2003. The dull bill perhaps suggestsa bird in its fourth winter, but otherwise the bird appears tobe in definitivebasic plumage. The slate-gray tone of the upperparts, coarse but sparsegray-brown streaking on the nape, faint gray mask around the very paleeye, and large amount of white on the tertial "clump • all help to identify thisbird, even though the distinctive primary pattern cannot be seen in thisimage. A Slaty-backedatCorpus Christi on 21 December 2003 was passiblythe same individual Photograph byAfork Lockwood.
AboveRight, Left, and Right:Black-tailed Gull has beenrecorded once before in Texas,in 1999at Brownsville, butthis bird was unusual in beingthe first individual detected in the Lower48 statesin second-basic plum- age.Even before the darker upperpartsandbiff pattern of definitiveplumages are evi- dent,the shape ofthe body andbiff (along with the black taftfromband) North setAmericanthe species gulls.apart PhotogrophsbyWillie $ekula.
Aboveand Right: Herring Gulls resembling theone above, pho- m,• tographed4 March 2004 at Corpus Christi's Elliott Landfill, have recently beenfound in a few locationsin the lower48 statesand several times in Texas.The shade ofthe upperparts, rather darker than srnithsonianus HerringGull, and the distribution ofblack and white in the primaries suggest the possibility ofthe eastern Asian taxon ve9ae, usually treated asa raceof Herring Gull but lately sometimes splitas Vega Gull, Larus vegae. This combination offeatures, how- ever,might be seen in other Herring Gull taxa; diagnostic field marks for vegae, if they exist, have yet to be fully determined. Photographs byAfartin I•e[d.
456 NORTH AMERICAN B RE) Thisfirst-winter Yellow-legged Gull(Larus cachinnans rnichahellis/atlantis; toptwo images), judged by European gullexperts tobe a close match for the subspecies atlantis, was located24January 2004 (left) at Corpus Christi's Elliott Landfill and remained through atleast 3April (right). Inshape, the species isintermediate between Lesser Black-backed and HerringGulls, with upperparts showing plumage palest inthe mantle and scapulars, darker inthe lesser and median coverts, with darker primaries andtertials abit darker than the coverts.The bird's head was generally paler than first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gullsphotographed atCorpus Christi (see more images at
differentYellow-legged Gull,judged (again by European authorities) tobe more likely michabellis, alsovisited CorpusChristi's Elliot landfill on 4 March2004 (above and right). This taxon is paler-backed than atlantis and generallyless similar to Lesser Black-backed inplumage and structure. Photographsby H/illieSekula.
Inflight, the remiges ofthe apparent michahellis (lower left and center images) appear blackish brown above, with the "window"(paler websof inner primaries andouter secondaries) is muchless pronounced thanseen in smithsonJanus HerringGulls. Incontrast toa first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gullat Elliot 9 March 2004 (bottom-right image), the greater secondary covertsarenot uniformly dark but patterned brown and white (some Lesser Black-backeds canapproach thispattem). The mostly white tail with sharply contrasting blacktailband contains limiteddark markings inthe outer webs to outermost rectrices. Thetailband isa useful mark--typically wider than seen in Caspian Gull (Larus cachinnans cachinnans/ponticus) butless extensivethan in Scandinavian Herring Gull (Larus argentatus argentatus). Compare thevariable but darker tail of first-winter Lesser Black-backed (atright); the tail of srnithsonianus HerringGull is more uniformly dark. Photographs byMartin Reid (right and middle) and Willie Sekula (left).
VOLUME 58 (2004) NUMBER 3 457 ThisGlaucous-winged Gullat Fo• Wo•h, Tarnnt Count, Texas 6 (here) to 8 Janua•2004 AtElliott Landfill, Corpus Christi 14 February (here) to 8 March2004, this large gull shows provid•the tint r•o• forthe state. Glaucous-winged Gullsare n•orious for hybridizing charactersconsistent with a hybridGlaucous-winged Gullx Western Gull hybrid, often withother large gull specie, b• thisflight po•ra• shows the detail of the primari• called"Olympic Gull" or "Puget 5oond Gull": the sho• wings, large, heavy-tipped billand cl•rly:neitha too much nor too little dark pigmen•ti• forGlaucous-wing•. The rich largehead, darkish mantle, and overall size are right for occidentalis Western Gull, but the brownvermiculat• ho• isalso •pical of winter birds. Aside from reco•s of the s•ies in vermiculatedbreast and slightly paler-than-expected mantle suggest admixture ofGlau- Moroccoand the •na• Islands(perha• the same individual), this bird repr•n• them•t cous-wingedgenes. Occasionally documented inthe Great Basin and Rocky Mountain extralim•alr•ord of the s•ci• confirmedtodate. Photograph byMa•in Reid. states,this bird represents the"eastern most"record forthis hybrid thus far. Another was documentedinwinter 2003-2004 in Colorado. Photograph byWillie $ekula.
Thayer'sGulls, usually first- winterbirds, are rarewin- ter andspring visitors to coastalTexas. This bird at theElliott Landfill, Corpus Christi4 March2004 wasin itssecond winter, a plumagenever previously documentedin the State. Thepatterns of wing and tail are too darkfor a Kum- lieifs IcelandGull, but this plumageishighly variable, withsome birds as pale- wingedas Iceland, others asdark as Herring Gull. PhotographbyMartin Reid.
Thistypical adult Thayer's Gull at Corpus Christi 28 February 2004 (left, withadult srnithsooiaous Herring Gull) was one of few adults ever satisfactorilydocumented inTexas. Photograph byWillieSel•la.
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CaliforniaGulls of both subspecies, culifornicus andalbertaensis, have been documented in Texas.This bird photographed atCorpus Christi 7 February 2004 shows the rather dark man- tletypical of the nominate race--yet another western gull taxon documented inthe state in Franklin'sGull is hardly rare in Texas, but a newlyarrived Franklin's Gull winter2003-2004. Another westerner rare in Texas, Mew Gull, has become an annual to the at CorpusChristi, breast blushed with rose, on 9 April2004 is Fo•'cWorth area; two were noted there in winter 2003-2004. Photograph byWillie Sekula. a suresign of sixing's arrival. Photograph hyWillie $ekala.
458 NORTH AMERICAN BIRD