[obol] Gull ID discussion

[R ARCHER]

Hi:

There is a similar discussion on gulls bouncing around other websites.  
Check out the link.  You will notice most of the large gulls are about 99.8% 
identical anyway.  I think we are 99% similar to chimps?  Something like 
that.  I still wonder if gulls try to split us humans up into different 
species based on the variety of folks they see racing around after them.

http://www.dnabarcoding.ca/publications.php


Bob Archer

>From: "DAVID IRONS" <llsdirons at msn.com>
>To: obol at lists.oregonstate.edu
>CC: dfxjcp at humboldt1.com, SGMlod at aol.com
>Subject: [obol] Gull ID discussion
>Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2007 17:26:12 +0000
>
>Greetings All,
>
>Larophilia -- A rapidly spreading disease that can quickly overwhelm all
>other threads on birding listservs. Has been known to completely ruin some
>listservs (see ID-Frontiers).  Symptoms include; adults squabbling like
>little children over the ultimate identifiability of putative hybrid gulls,
>use of abbreviations such as "P10" to identify individual feathers in a
>gulls wing, belief among the afflicted that they can use single images
>posted online to determine the genetic makeup of individual
>hybrid/intergrade gulls on the basis of obscure characteristics such as
>gonydeal angle and skull shape.   Cures: none.
>
>I enjoy watching gulls and trying to sort them out as much as the next
>person.  Many can be actually identified to be relatively "pure" (if such a
>thing exists) renditions of a SINGLE species.  However, my starting point 
>is
>the belief that there will be a significant portion of the gulls I see that
>are hybrids and intergrades that I will not be able to identify.  In the
>company of others with a similar level of curiosity I occasionally share my
>opinions (barely educated as they are) on what the parentage of a 
>particular
>bird might be.  Yet I realize if I go online and start posting such ideas 
>to
>the birding masses I am urinating into a stiff breeze.
>
>The large (pink-footed) gulls in our region are a genetic train wreck.  
>Like
>car wrecks we can't resist the temptation to stop and look, but all we see
>is the mangled result and we have no real idea what caused it.  I have been
>carrying on a running conversation with Steve Mlodinow about some
>interesting gulls we found at Eugene's Alton Baker Park two weeks ago.  
>Here
>is a response he sent me last night.  In short it mirrors my own attitude
>about the reliability of identifying gulls.
>
>"Methinks among pink-footed gulls (ie, not RBGU, etc) that 10% not truly
>identifiable would be great. The more of these hybridoids I look at, the
>more skeptical I become...."
>
>Hopefully, gulls threads will not overrun OBOL as they have with other
>listservs.
>
>Dave Irons
>Eugene, OR
>
>
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