white gull at Imperial Beach

I received photos taken today by Norka Saldana of a young very white gull at the Imperial Beach Pier which shows a fair number of characters of Glaucous Gull, including an almost nicely bicolored bill. Unfortunately, the bird is truly quite white with just a few smudgy tan feathers oddly placed here and there, rather than nice mottling or barring to the wing coverts and undertail coverts as young glaucous shows. And it shows oddly dark brownish feathering to the central upper tail and probably the rump, as best as can be seen in the photos. And the bill is not quite the right shape and has a couple weird patches of color. Anyway, if one is in the area it’s worth taking a look and getting more photos, but it does seem to be a pigmentally challenged gull of some other species rather than a young Glaucous.

Paul Lehman, San Diego