North American Gull Conference, November 24 – 26, 2000
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
By Phil Davis
Photographs by Kayo Roy
Buoyed by the success of the First International Gull Conference in France in 1998, the staff of Birder’s Journal, a prominent Canadian birding journal, planned and hosted the first North American Gull Conference, in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada in late November 2000.
Arrangements. The conference venue was Niagara Falls, Ontario. A year-round tourist mecca, the city still hosts some falls watchers in November but it’s generally the off-season except for intrepid gull watchers. The falls and the Niagara River are famous for wintertime gull finds—over 19 species have been recorded, with a record of 14 in one day. The conference was held in the Best Western Cairn Croft Hotel on Lundy’s Lane, about 1-1/2 miles from the falls. Favorable Canadian currency exchange rates and a very attractive group discount rate negotiated by the organizers made the conference an especially attractive bargain for US participants.
The Turnout. Over 200 participants attended the conference, with North American participants hailing from as far away as California, Texas, Washington state, Georgia, Florida, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia. International participants included representation from England, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
The Programs. The conference featured a packed slate of gull presentations:
• Niagara Gulls by Jon Dunn. Jon photographically reviewed all gull species recorded on the river, as well as candidates for the next additions to the falls "gull list". This presentation served as an excellent introduction to the conference and for the subsequent field trips to the river.
• Making a Gull Video (bloopers and out-takes) by John Vanderpoel of Peregrine Video. John gave a very informative and entertaining video presentation featuring videography and production highlights from his first two volumes of the Advanced Video Birding Series, Volume 1: The Large Gulls of North America, and Volume 2: The Small Gulls of North America. His video excerpts included segments with titles like "Most Serendipitous Moment", "Most Humorous Moment", among others.
• Common Gulls by Bruce Mactavish. Bruce provided an in-depth look at the Common Gull, especially in comparison and contrast to the Ring-billed Gull. Separation of immature Common and Ringed-billed Gulls requires particularly close scrutiny. As many North American birders know, Charles Sibley, in Birds of the World, has split the Mew Gull (Larus canus) into two species, separating the European "Common" Gull (Larus canus canus) from the (American) "Short-billed" Mew Gull (L. c. brachyrhynchus). Common Gulls are regular visitors to Bruce's home province of Newfoundland and his expert advice will significantly help northeastern North American birders identify excursions of this form further into the continent. If the American Ornithological Union follows Sibley and splits these species, the charge to find and identify Common Gulls will clearly intensify. The third form of the Mew Gull, kamtschatschensis, was touched on only briefly.
• The Ecology of Gulls on the Niagara River by Chip Weseloh. Chip presented an excellent summary of the results of many years of gull research and surveys along the Niagara River. His data included nesting and the migratory status of the various species of gulls found regularly and intermittently on the river. This work has supported the Niagara River achieving the designation as an "Important Bird Area" (IBA).
• Thayer’s / Kumlien’s Revisited by Paul Lehman and Friends (Bruce Mactavish and Louis Bevier). Paul presented a most detailed and thorough status of the identification of the Thayer’s Gull complex (which includes Thayer’s, Kumlien’s, and Iceland Gulls). His presentation provided many examples and much repetition, which really drove home and "drilled in" the identification differences. Bruce’s discussion focused on the pitfalls and challenges associates with this complex. Louis discussed some of the current taxonomy issues.
• Herring Gulls by Lars Jonsson. Lars was the featured speaker of the conference. He is a renowned Swedish field guide author and illustrator. He is known largely in North American for his work, The Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East. He has spent much time over the past few years studying the entire worldwide Herring Gull complex, including the smithsonianus (North American) form, as well as other forms that are found in North American, such as argenteus (western European) and vegae or "Vega" (Siberian). Lars’ presentation consisted of excellent photographic slides and photos of his painted field guide plates. He discussed many aspects of the complex, including his theories of how the various Herring Gull forms came to evolve as the glaciers of the last ice age retreated. He theorizes, for example, that leg and mantle color correlate to the latitude of where the birds reside or winter. He presented data graphics that appear to support his theories. While his presentation was most interesting and fascinating, he unfortunately occupied a late after-dinner time slot on the program and had so much material he had to stop his presentation before he was completely through, after two hours.
• Let’s Talk about Gulls Breakfast; panel discussion with Jon Dunn, Bruce Mactavish, Lars Jonsson, and Bob Curry. A series of "mystery" gull photos were displayed in the social area during the conference. The panel led an identification discussion of each, but as with all challenging gull identification, a number of them were left "unidentified" as agreed by the experts. Notably, several of these mystery gulls were previously published elsewhere and the panel concurred that the published identifications were incorrect!
• Slaty-backed Gulls. Originally listed as a program in the conference flier, the presenter unfortunately was a "no show" and the presentation was not given. This was a shame, since many of the participants eagerly anticipated the program.
Sponsors. Conference sponsors contributed significantly to the event. They included:
• Birders Journal – the host
• Nature Travel Holidays – sponsored Lars Jonsson and the Sunday field trips
• Swarovski Optik – sponsored the Saturday field trips and the "Let’s Talk About Gulls Breakfast"
• Turaco Nature, Inc. – sponsored Bruce Mactavish
• Peregrine Video – sponsored John Vanderpoel
• Wings – sponsored Jon Dunn
Exhibits. The sponsors and other companies provided exhibits. They included the host, Birder’s Journal, a bookstore, a wildlife artist, two nature tour companies, and several optics
manufacturers.
Field Trips. Five busloads of birders were transported to the falls on Saturday and Sunday morning with a designated leader in each bus. Stationary leaders were also on duty at each stop along the river to locate and identify gulls for the attendees. Ten species of gulls were found during the weekend. Stops were made at the following locations and featured the following species (in addition to the normal Herring, Ring-billed, Bonaparte’s and Great-blacked Backed Gulls):
• International Control Facility. Glaucous, Thayer’s, Iceland Gulls and Lesser-blacked Gulls.
• Above the Falls. Little Gulls
• The Gorge between the American and Horseshoe Falls. Sabine’s Gulls (two juveniles)
• The Whirlpool Rapids Lookout. Sabine’s Gull (another juvenile)
• The Hydro Plant Road. Searched for a recent California Gull, but without success.
• Adam-Beck. The best place for white-winged gulls … Iceland, Thayer’s and Glaucous, plus the usual suspects.
• Queenston Boat Ramp. Little Gulls (several).
Summary. This was an outstanding event. It was informative, entertaining and provided lots of opportunity for socializing and networking. The cost was a superb bargain. The organizers are to be commended for the success and the superb hospitality.
The Future? Birder’s Journal asked for suggestions regarding future events. I certainly hope they do repeat the format, perhaps on a bi-annual basis. Suggestions for future venues include Newfoundland, Seattle/Vancouver, New England, or Northern California. Some personal suggestions for future topics include this conference’s missing Slaty-backed Gull presentation, as well as talks on Kelp Gulls; Yellow-legged Gulls; Black-tailed Gulls; Belcher’s Gulls; The Gull Explosion—where are they coming from?; The Status of Gulls in Captivity in North America; Ship-Assisted Gulls—Facts and Fiction; and The Next North American Gulls (Mediterranean Gull, Gray-hooded Gull, Swallow-tailed Gull).
An Additional Report. Angus Wilson of New York has also posted an excellent conference report featuring many of his own images. He has provided permission to link to it at: http://www.best.com/~petrel/NAGC.html.
Acknowledgements. I would like to thank Kayo Roy and Bob Curry of Ontario for their review and comments.
Phil Davis
Davidsonville, MD
pdavis@ix.netcom.com