[obol] Odd Mew Gull

[Cindy Ashy]

Thank you everyone for the good info and references.

Putting guides aside for the moment, I want to ask
again and make sure I understand correctly that others
agree that most Mew Gulls on the Oregon Coast have
really dark irises...not dusky or golden....but dark.
It is unusual on the Oregon Coast to see a Mew Gull
with a light iris...correct? This is what I have seen
but I'm wanting to confirm that with people that have
far more experience observing Oregon Coast gulls than
me (which I would trust more than what's printed in
books).

In my online searching, there were some contradictory
statements about iris color of the 3-4 subspecies
(some seem to split the Asia populations into 2 to get
4 total). I've noticed iris color seems to be a very
confusing issue even between specialty gull
books/websites....such as the difference between 1st
and 2nd winter Glaucous Gulls (most say second winter
is light transitioning to this over the late
spring/summer but then there were contradicitons to
this).

Dave, are you referring to the illustration at the
bottom of page 212 of the BIG Sibley or an
illustration in the little Sibley? If it's the first
one, there's a tiny caption below it that says,
"Short-billed recorded east to Atlantic Coast" which
is a little confusing but  I think that illustration
is referring to occasional European Mew Gull visitors
to North America's East Coast but then on the next
page shows the European variety with a dark iris...all
very confusing.

Cindy Ashy

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