Photo Index

Steppe Gulls Larus barabensis (/cachinnans?)

Photo 1. Astana marshes, May 2008

Photo 2. Astana marshes, May 2008

Photo 3. Astana marshes, May 2008

Photo 4. Sub-adult, Astana marshes, May 2008

Photo 5. Sub-adult (2S or 3S), Kurgaldjinskiy lakes, May 2008.

Photo 6. Lake Bekan, June 1987.

Photo 7. Lake Bekan, June1987.

The gulls in the photos above were all encountered in the region around Astana, during June 1987 and May 2008. The top four photos and lower two photos involve birds at reed-bed marshes while photo 5 shows a sub-adult individual (second or third summer) at the Kurgaldjinskiy steppe lakes southwest of the city. Currently, the gulls in this region are generally assigned to barabensis. This form breeds primarily in steppe lakes from south-west Siberia, from the Urals to the Omsk region, but is also assigned by some authors to the gulls breeding in northern Kazakhstan. In 2000, a study of the gulls at the Chany Lakes, in southwest Siberia, was published by Panov and Monzikov  ('Status of the form barabensis within the ‘Larus argentatus-cachinnans-fuscus complex’'. British Birds 93: 227-241). Their study recognised barabensis as distinct from cachinnans but also stated that birds in Kazakhstan are intermediate in appearance between cachinnans and barabensis, as already asserted by Johansen as long ago as 1960 ('Die Vogelfauna Westsibiriens'. III, Laridae, Alcidae. J Ornithol 101: 316-339). Interestingly (and somewhat ambiguously), elsewhere in their paper Panov and Monzikov refer to the gulls breeding at Lake Tengiz (which is in the same general area as the Kurgaldjinskiy lakes) as cachinnans and state that this is 'about 1000 km south of the breeding range of barabensis'.

Panov and Monzikov concluded (together with some earlier authors) that barabensis was closely related to heuglini, and more recent mtDNA studies have supported that view. For more details see also: Dubois, P. 2002. ('Systematics of Larus argentatus-cachinnans-fuscus complex revisited'. Dutch Birding 24: 271-298).  A ‘classic’ barabensis is smaller and rounder-headed than cachinnans with a shorter bill and shorter legs. It looks more compact overall. It has darker upperparts, similar in shade to taimyrensis or more easterly populations of heuglini.  Black in the wingtip is more extensive than in other southern forms of yellow-legged gulls, with black on at least the outer seven primaries (p4 to p10) and often a small black mark on p3. Black occupies >50% of p10 and occupies a relatively large area on p9 to p7. A feature associated with 'classic' barabensis is the tendency to a narrow black subterminal band on the bill, even in summer, and the red spot tends to extend from the gonys onto the upper mandible. At Saltaim Lake, 360 km northwest of Chany Lakes, 18 of 29 barabensis examined in the hand by Filchagov displayed such a black band (Filchagov 1993, 'The Armenian Gull in Armenia', Brit Birds 86: 550-560). At Chany Lakes, Panov and Monzikov found that only two of 12 gulls examined possessed black marks near the bill tip, so this feature may be less well-developed further south and closer towards the breeding range of cachinnans. It has also been suggested that the black band may be a feature of younger adults, which becomes less evident in older individuals (Philippe Dubois, quoted by Panov & Monzikov).

The gulls in northern Kazakhstan are deemed to have some cachinnans-type features but a wing-tip pattern approaching barabensis (Panov and Monzikov). On some individuals, however, the extent of black in the primaries and the prominence of pale veins on the inner webs of p8 and p7 (extending well down towards the tips of the feathers) also recalls cachinnans - see photos 3 and 7 above, and compare with photo 2. See additional photos and discussion by Dick Newell ( http://www.magikbirds.com/image.asp?title_id=173&show_thumbnails=True ) of the birds which we encountered during 1987. On some birds the head and bill profile is more attenuated than on classic barabensis. Iris colour in the Kazakhstan gulls is variable, some with an obviously pale eye (see photo 6). A relatively dark iris is associated with classic barabensis but variable iris colour was reported by Panov & Monzikov during their study of barabensis at the Chany Lakes in southwest Siberia.. The leg colour of Kazakh birds reportedly includes birds with a greyish tinge and some even with a fleshy tinge (see Olsen and Larson, Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America).