Date: 4/20/26 4:44 am From: <chucao...> Subject: Re: [BIRDWG01] What, truly, is "Nelson's Gull?"
Bob
There are a bunch of Vega x Glaucous photos on eBird, including some I have seen in Japan. They are not common though, so the few photos may be partly an issue of the hybrid itself not being all that common?
-----Original Message-----
From: NBHC ID-FRONTIERS Frontiers of Field Identification <BIRDWG01...> On Behalf Of Robert O'Brien
Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2026 11:33 PM
To: <BIRDWG01...>
Subject: Re: [BIRDWG01] What, truly, is "Nelson's Gull?"
If you select a photo, then the original checklist will be available.
Bob OBrien Portland OR
On Sun, Apr 19, 2026 at 7:27 PM <chucao...> wrote:
> Tony
>
> Amar suggested this some years back. But in the end it really does
> not matter in the usage of the term "Nelson's Gull" as it is not a valid taxon.
> It does not need to follow any specific rules of taxonomy or naming.
> So if we have taken Nelson's Gull to mean American Herring x Glaucous,
> then we should keep using that even if the first Nelson's Gull might
> have been something else.
>
> Alvaro
>
> Alvaro Jaramillo
> <alvaro...>
> www.alvarosadventures.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NBHC ID-FRONTIERS Frontiers of Field Identification <
> <BIRDWG01...> On Behalf Of <greatgrayowl...>
> Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2026 6:12 PM
> To: <BIRDWG01...>
> Subject: [BIRDWG01] What, truly, is "Nelson's Gull?"
>
> Hi all:
> It suddenly came to me when doing some review work that, with the
> recent taxonomic changes in what we used to call Herring Gull (sensu
> largo), the moniker "Nelson's Gull" is possibly not correctly
> associated with Glaucous Gull x American Herring Gull. Given that the
> type specimen was collected in June at "St. Michael's" (now St.
> Michael) on the western shore of Alaska due E of St. Lawrence Island,
> might this hybrid be referable to Glaucous x Vega? I don't know where
> the specimen is currently housed (it was originally deposited in the
> US Nat'l Mus.; 97253; Henshaw 1884), but it might be quite useful for
> someone to track that thing down. Perhaps that task has already been completed. If so, I'd love to know the result.
> Henshaw, H. W. 1884. On a New Gull from Alaska. The Auk 1 (3):250-252.
> (On a New Gull from Alaska) Tony Tony LeukeringDenver, COeBird blog
> eBird commentaryPhotos
>
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