Hi I wonder if anyone can help. Have just come back from a trip to Thailand (trip report to follow soon) and we saw a few gulls which our guide identified as Heuglin’s. Working through my IOC database I see that the IOC only has Heuglin’s as a ssp of Lesser Black-backed and does not have Lesser BB or any of its ssp in SE Asia at all. Clements appears to disagree. Can anyone shed any light on this (can probably provide photos if they will help) Thanks Dave _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Comments
4 responses to ““Heuglin’s” Gull in Thailand”
Mike IOC does list wintering ranges and for Latham’s Snipe has “e Australia”/ So that is not the issue. We had multiple books including Robson and the confusion arises I think because IOC (which we tend to use) differs from most of the books in excluding Heuglin’s from that area – but of course they could be wrong! I guess it is only IOC that seems to be out of line on this one! Dave On 28 January 2014 16:40, Mike Carter <pterodroma@bigpond.com> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Thanks Stephen for the info! On 28 January 2014 16:32, Stephen Murray <sjmurray3@bigpond.com> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Hi Dave, it appears to me that the IOC distributions are given for the breeding grounds only and do not include the wintering distribution. If, for instance you look at Latham’s Snipe, they are not listed as occurring in Australia, only Japan and nearby where they breed. The major wintering grounds for the heuglini race of Lesser Black-backed Gull extends from the eastern Mediterranean east to Japan. Robson in his Birds of SE Asia includes them as a full species with a status of rare to locally fairly common in parts of Thailand. This taxon has occurred just to our north on Wetar so is to be expected one day in Australia. Did you really go to Thailand without a copy of Robson? Mike Carter 30 Canadian Bay Road Mount Eliza VIC 3930 Tel (03) 9787 7136 —– Original Message —– Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 2:53 PM _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Hi Dave. In Robson’s “Birds of SE Asia” (2005 ed) there is a discussion of this. Where the birds in Thailand (winter visitors) were considered to be a paler subspecies Larus heuglini taimyrensis. However, Robson states that this may not be a valid taxon, and that the birds may be Heuglin’s/Vega Gull hybrids. In other words true Heuglin’s Gulls may not occur in the region (maybe this is where IOC is coming from). This view is also expressed in the Wikipedia entry for Heuglin’s Gull. The situation seems a bit unclear. Cheers Steve Murray —–Original Message—– Dave Torr Sent: Tuesday, 28 January 2014 1:53 PM Hi I wonder if anyone can help. Have just come back from a trip to Thailand (trip report to follow soon) and we saw a few gulls which our guide identified as Heuglin’s. Working through my IOC database I see that the IOC only has Heuglin’s as a ssp of Lesser Black-backed and does not have Lesser BB or any of its ssp in SE Asia at all. Clements appears to disagree. Can anyone shed any light on this (can probably provide photos if they will help) Thanks Dave _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org