Common (Kamchatka) Gull

During January 175 bird species were added to this year’s eBird CT “state year list”, and in February only four new species were added to our state year list (bringing the state year list up to 179 species). Here are those four species, in the proposed rank order of noteworthiness (regardless of how you rank #2-4, most birders would agree that the Common (Kamchatka) Gull is the #1 BOTM for February):

1. Common (Kamchatka) Gull (Larus canus kamtschatschensis). Found Feb. 10 by Patrick Dugan. Patrick also found the #1 BOTM last month, that first Thick-billed Murre. Double congratulations, Patrick!!

2. Painted Bunting. Found Feb. 6 by Catherine Cindrich.

3. Golden Eagle. Found Feb. 6 by Stuart Winquist.

4. Black-headed Gull. Found Feb. 11 by Glenn Williams.

This gull or complex of gulls (Mew Gull super-species, Short-billed Gull, Common Gull, along with its three subspecies) has long been the topic of debate (e.g., see the image from the 1947 Peterson below). Now, with the help of the DNA-folks, these species relationships are getting clearer. If you only have time to read one of the references below, read the Sibley article.

And if you want a good concise ID summary, read the following CTBirds post from Aidan Kiley on February 11, 2022. Thank you Aidan:

To George and anyone else curious, I hope I can provide a brief summary of what makes this a Kamchatka Gull.
The former “Mew Gull” complex has 4 taxa, currently treated as 2 species in the ABA:
-Short-billed Gull (monotypic)
-Common Gull (3 subspecies- nominate canus of Europe, subspecies heinei of Russia, and Kamchatka Gull which breeds in far eastern Russia and is occasionally found as a very rare vagrant in the Northeast/Eastern Canadian provinces.)
The Stamford bird is a Kamchatka Gull, which is sometimes treated as its own species outside of the ABA area.
Typical features of Kam are large, bulky appearance (usually larger than Ring-billed) and dark mantle, sometimes approaching Lesser Black-backed in color.
But the bulk of the ID comes down to the wingtip pattern as all other features are variable and hard to assess.
Gulls have 10 primaries, labeled p10-p1. P10 is the outermost primary. The pattern of black and white helps us here.
As can be seen from Lucas Bobay and Patrick Dugan’s photos, the black in the wingtip extends down to p5, which is not typical of canus of European.
This individual has a tiny bit of black on p4 at least on the right wing which is more typical of Short-billed but doesn’t rule out Kam.
The bird from Stamford in 2019 had a bit of black on p4 but it’s challenging to compare because that bird wasn’t a full adult.
In addition, the lack of a long white tipped tongue on p8 and p9 mirror smaller than p10 help rule out Short-billed.
The white wing border that is very broad along the secondaries but significantly narrows out by the inner primaries is a Kam trait.
Overall, the wing details, large size, dark mantle, white wing stripe and deep yellow bill work for Kamchatka Gull.
Good birding,
Aidan Kiley
Fairfield

Here is Frank Mantlik’s eBird report and photos of this gull, soon after P. Dugan found it:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S102392265

And here is a link to Alex Lamoreaux’s Feb.12 eBird report, with many additional photos of this gull… https://ebird.org/checklist/S102508371

Here is the eBird map (as of end of Feb. 2022) for this gull species/subspecies, showing all reports to eBird, ever, for all years. Red icons are birds in the last 30 days, i.e., during February 2022. The rarity of this bird is obvious from the small number of red (or blue) icons.