Moorhouse (2024)

Scott Moorhouse (High Arctic Gull Research Group) is continuing his studies of Iceland Gulls (Larus glaucoides thayeri), including completing additional work on the occurrence, distribution, abundance, habitat use, and behavior of wintering L. glaucoides thayeri in central California. Fieldwork was completed in March 2023 and a paper on the work was accepted for publication by Marine Ornithology in February 2024 (Moorhouse, S.S. 2024. The distribution, abundance, and habitat use of wintering Iceland Gulls Larus glaucoides thayeri in northern California and comparisons with other Larus gulls. Marine Ornithology, in press). This study is a continuation of previous work on Iceland Gulls (Moorhouse, S.S. 2021. The feeding ecology and behavior of breeding Iceland Gulls Larus glaucoides kumlieni and comparisons with sympatric large Larus gulls on southwestern Baffin Island, Canada. Marine Ornithology, 49, 83–90). Additional work is planned to study the feeding ecology and behavior of wintering L. glaucoides thayeri in coastal British Columbia and Washington in the winters of 2024/2025 and 2025/2026. This work will specifically include an analysis of feeding habitat use and feeding behavior in this geographic area, which supports the core wintering population of L. glaucoides thayeri , and will use approaches similar to those used in northern California. Comparisons will also be made with additional gulls that winter in the area, including Glaucous-winged (L. glaucescens), American Herring (L. smithsonianus), Western (L. occidentalis), California (L. californicus), Ring-billed (L. delewarensis), and Short-billed Gulls (L. brachyrhynchus).