Conowingo Gull ...MD/DC Records Committee and Proper Venue

Jlstasz@aol.com
Wed, 11 Feb 1998 19:32:52 EST 

Hi Folks!

On 11 February, Mary Gustafson wrote:

"While I appreciate the fact that others have different opinions, this record
will be reviewed in the appropriate venue, which is the Maryland DC Records
Committee.  Identifications of this magnitude should not be decided on the
internet or at a bird club meeting. "

I can not disagree more. If I may use something stolen from Arnie Palmer (a
systematist of Cambrian fossils, not the golfer) who probably stole it from
Stephen J. Gould (an avid Red Sox Fan who from time-2-time writes about
Evolution):

"When asked how they make a call, three Umpires replied:

#1       "There are balls and there are strikes, and I call them the best I
can."

#2        "There are ball and there are strikes, and I call them the way I see
them"

#3        "There are ball and there are strikes, but they aren't anything
until I call 
            them."

When I go to a ball game, I do not wait for any Umpire to tell me what
occured. 

I also recall something attributed  to Confucious: "Remember always that the
Camel and the Elephant are horses made by Committees."   :-)

Greg Miller asked the important question...what are the salient identification
features? What features are diagnostic? What features are equivocal? Mark
Hoffman has written a wonderful draft comparing the features and I do not want
to steal his thunder.

I shall simply restate my opinion that the shape of the dark spots on the wing
coverts is a *diagnostic* character and *unequivocably* differentiates Common
Gull (Larus canus canus) from Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis). If the
dark spots are arrowhead-shaped (V), then the bird is a Ring-billed Gull, if
the spots are U-shaped, (U), then the bird is a Common Gull. Please
note....this is diagnostic only if you are left with the species: Common Gull
(Larus canus canus), Short-billed Gull (Larus canus brachyrhynchus), Kamchatka
Gull (Larus canus kamchatensis), and Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis). Of
this group, only Ring-billed has the arrowhead-shaped dark spots in the
coverts.

Good Birding!

Jim

Jim Stasz
North Beach, MD
jlstasz@aol.com