Mew Gull

Larus canus

The first Pribilof record wasn’t until 1978, but they have been nearly annual in occurrence since the mid-1990s. They are most common in the spring with scattered records from mid-May to mid-June (most common from May 20th-June 5th) in the spring and a few records extend into early summer in late June and early July. Arrivals during the summer and fall are much less common with most summer records from late June, while the few fall records span the entire period. There is a single late winter record from April, likely an early migrant rather than a true winterer.

The East Asian subspecies (kamtschatschensis), known as the “Kamchatka” Gull, has been split from the North American breeding subspecies (brachyrhynchus) by various taxonomic authorities at times. Kamchatka Gulls and Mew Gulls have both occurred with some regularity, though there are a few more records of the “Kamchatka” Gull from Pribilofs, particularly since 2005.

Photo by Phil Chaon
Photo by Stephan Lorenz
Photo by Eric VanderWerf
Photo by Cory Gregory