Glaucous Gull, Larus hyperboreus


Glaucous Gull
Moving north along the Pacific Coast, the large gulls most commonly seen are Western in California, Glaucous-winged in the Pacific Northwest, and Glaucous in coastal Alaska, where the photographs above and below were taken.


Glaucous Gull
The bicolored gonydeal spot, black and red, suggest that the Glaucous Gull shown above is third cycle; the rest of the appearance is consistent with it being an adult.


Glaucous Gull
Glaucous Gulls are uncommon to rare in the SF Bay Area, but several are seen every winter, most of them first-cycle birds, recognizable by the nearly all-white plumage and the distinctive bicolored bill. Glaucous-winged Gulls, a much more common species here, can also appear nearly all-white, especially toward summer when their plumage is worn, but their wing-tips are normally gray rather than white, and their bills are bulbous, like those of Western Gulls, rather than long and straight, as shown above. The first-cycle Glaucous pictured above, sleepy-eyed, and below, yawning, was on the first island of Salt Pond A16 in Edwards NWR in a group including Western, Glaucous-winged, Herring, California, and Ring-billed Gulls. 


Glaucous Gull