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Glaucous gulls are large, Arctic-breeding birds identified by their overall pale coloration and especially by white primary tips. Young birds in their first plumage cycle, like these, are particularly pale and have a characteristic bicolored bill. One of these birds was photographed near the small town of Lakeview in southern California -- unusually far south for this species, even in winter. On a sunny day it was panting from the heat (above left). It seemed enormous next to the abundant ring-billed, herring, and California gulls that swarm to this site. Another first winter bird (bottom) was photographed in the even more unlikely location of the Salton Sea in the California desert. Other glaucous gulls, including both adults and juveniles, photographed near the town of Barrow on Alaska's north coast are here. |
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