South Dakota Birds and BirdingDevoted to birds, birding, and photography |
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of South Dakota Birds
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South Dakota Birds and BirdingDevoted to birds, birding, and photography |
Custom Search
of South Dakota Birds
|
| Length: 24 inches | Wingspan: 55 inches | Seasonality: Rare Winter Visitor |
| ID Keys: Light mantle, dark eyes, limited dark in wing-tips, shorter thinner bill than similar species, pink legs | ||
The Thayer's Gull was once
considered a slightly smaller sub-species of the Herring
Gull, and is very similar. Its status is still in question, with some
still considering a race of Herring Gull, and others calling it and the
Iceland
Gull different races of the same species. Thayer's Gulls are typically
darker on the wingtips than Iceland Gulls, while Iceland Gulls may have very
little darker feathering in the wingtips. The "Kumlien's Gull" is
considered to be a hybrid of Thayer's and Iceland Gulls, and some consider
them all one species, ranging from the darker Thayer's in the west to the
lighter Iceland in the east. Thayer's Gulls also readily interbreed
with multiple other species on the West Coast, including Glaucous-winged and
Western Gulls, making identification of Thayer's Gulls and hybrid gulls even
more difficult.
2) Cornell University's "All About Birds - Thayer's Gull"
| Click on the map below for a higher-resolution view |
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| South Dakota Status: Rare migrant and winter visitor, with the vast majority of sightings along the Missouri River and its impoundments. |
| Commercial Use | Fine Art Print | Personal Usage |
