Study on pink-tinged Ring-billed Gulls

["Utah Birds" <utahbirds at excite dot com>]

Request for help with a study
From: Lisa Hardy, of Kingston ID
E-mail address:  basalt@earthlink.net

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PINK RING-BILLED GULLS
I am looking for reports of pink-tinged Ring-billed Gulls this spring in order to map their distribution, and possibly determine where they are coming from. Last year, small numbers were reported in March from NV, WA, ID and OR.

The coloring is fairly subtle ? it occurs as a pale shell-pink wash through the white feathers of the head and body, but noticeable at close range and especially in comparison to adjacent, normal white birds. The leg and bill color are also different - a darker orangey-yellow contrasted with the greenish-yellow of a normal bird. This agrees with what is known about pink pigmentation in the Laridae; it is apparently systemic, and a result of eating foods with carotenoid pigments. While certain species such as Ross?s Gull and Roseate Tern show the pigmentation in most adults, the hooded gulls show the pigmentation less frequently, and I have been unable to find any previous descriptions of pink-tinged Ring-billed Gulls. Limited inquiries to other areas in North America suggest that the pink Ring-bills are localized to the Pacific Northwest.

In order to figure out where these birds are coming from, and perhaps what they are eating, I would like to collect reports of sightings of pink-tinged Ring-bills. Please send me your reports with date, location, number of pink individuals, and what percentage they represent of the entire flock of Ring-bills. Negative reports, i.e., of large flocks of Ring-bills with no pigment, would also be helpful.

Thank you!

Lisa Hardy

Kingston, ID






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