Variation and Distribution of Glaucous Gulls in Western Alaska
Strang CA. 1977. Variation and Distribution of Glaucous Gulls in Western Alaska. The Condor. 79(2):170-175
Glaucous Gulls in western Alaska vary in pigmentation of iris, eye- ring and primary remiges. This variation has been attributed to hybridization of Glaucous Gulls with Glaucous-winged or Herring Gulls by various authors. The distribution of these species in western Alaska is incompletely known. This paper describes gulls collected in the area of the Kokechik and Kashunuk Rivers in western Alaska. Many are intermediate between Glaucous and Glaucous-winged gulls in color of iris and primaries, with only 28% displaying pure Glaucous Gull phenotype. Glaucous Gulls may breed along the coast between the Kokechik-Kashunuk area and the Kuskokwim River to the south. Juvenile Glaucous and Glaucous-winged gulls were present at Bethel, on the Kuskokwim, in September 1974. Isolated breeding records for Glaucous-winged Gulls north of the Kuskokwim have not been substantiated, but ornithological surveys are incomplete for coastal western Alaska.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Strang, Carl
- Units
- ARCN , BELA , CAKR , GAAR , KOVA , NOAT
- Keywords
- Arctic, Birds, Gulls, Larus hyperboreus, Larus nelsoni, phenotypes, Seabirds, Taxonomy