Iceland Gull!
Did you miss the news? I doubt it... I think the news of the Thayer's/Iceland lump was shared to every single birding/media source on the planet in a span of 5 minutes last night... But anyways - I'm sorry to report that when you go out in the field this winter, you'll no longer be able to recognize the difference between Thayer's and Iceland:
Birders who get into the hobby from 2018-onwards will wonder how birders could ever think there were any visible differences between these two Iceland Gulls.
Thankfully you'll still have the ability to agonize over the Redpolls... Especially if you want to add Hoary Redpoll to your list... Or brag that you, and you alone, introduced the world to the subtle differences between Hornemann's and Greater Redpolls!
Thankfully we can still clearly say this is a... umm...
Now we wait with baited breath for the explanations. Thayer's and Redpolls are in the spotlight, but you'll eventually ponder why Audubon's Warblers still don't "count" for anything, or gain some extra sleep when you realize that Willets remain a straight-forward-easy-ID!
Green-winged Teal and Gadwall
The writing was on the wall with Thayer's!
ReplyDeleteNow we can start to wonder what will happen to "Kumlien's" !
DeleteThat's it...we all just lost a species on our life lists! Looks like the Ontario Big Year record just changed as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd to think, I spent months training myself to ID Thayer's Gulls so that when I saw one, I could ID it.
They'll still be out there :) ;)
DeleteI'm totally good with this, but why'd they stop at Thayer's? All gulls are the same. Embrace the simple life.
ReplyDeleteSea Gull - Larus larus (we should lobby ebird to add this)
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