Scarce winter visitor

Glaucous Gulls are regular winter visitors to the West Midlands Region and are anticipated every winter by gull-watchers at the larger roosts, particularly Belvide, Blithfield & Chasewater in Staffordshire and Draycote Water in Warwickshire. An earlier analysis of the status of Glaucous and Iceland Gull in the region was published in British Birds in 1976 (Dean and Dean, 1976). Numbers have declined significantly, however, since the late 1980s, and a brief summary of these changes was published in Birdwatch in 2002 (Dean 2002).

A more comprehensive presentation follows. Factors such as the observation of gulls at (a) day-time feeding sites such as refuse tips, and (b) evening roost sites at lakes and reservoirs, inevitably introduce some duplication of sightings of individual gulls, and some adjustment for these factors  has been made in the analyses. The raw data have been extracted and analysed anew, in comparison with the Birdwatch item, but it should be noted that a slightly less severe 'pruning' of records to eliminate duplicate observations has been used. Thus, the absolute totals are slightly higher in the present analysis but this does not alter the annual and seasonal trends nor the relative numbers of Glaucous and Iceland Gulls.

Annual distribution

The annual numbers of Glaucous Gulls during 1986 - 2005 (based upon arrival dates) are displayed in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Annual totals of Glaucous Gulls in the West Midlands Region, 1986 - 2005.

Numbers reached a peak of at least 41 during 1989 (and there were 40 during 1980) but, since 1990, there have been no more than 22 in any one year and generally fewer than 15. In 1996 only two individuals were recorded and only five during 2000 and 2003.

Prior to the 1990s  Glaucous Gull was a considerably more numerous visitor than Iceland Gull. During the 1990s, however, there was a shift and Iceland Gull  became the commoner visitor. During the early 2000s, Iceland Gulls have also declined and the totals of each species are more comparable. The five-yearly totals for the two species between 1986 and 2005 are presented in Table 1 (see proviso above re totals compared with the item in Birdwatch). See also Iceland Gull for the comparative profile of annual totals of that species.

Table 1. Comparative five-yearly totals of Glaucous Gull and Iceland Gull, in the West Midlands Region, 1986 - 2005

The decline has affected all age-categories but adults in particular have been very scarce since 1995.

Monthly distribution

The monthly distribution of records during 1986 - 2000 is presented in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Monthly distribution of arrival dates of Glaucous Gulls in the West Midlands Region, 1986 - 2005.

Not unexpectedly, the majority of records falls in the period December to March (95%), with a clear peak during January (44%).

Previously published items:

Glaucous and Iceland Gulls in the West Midlands (status up to 1975)

Wintering Glaucous, Iceland and Herring Gulls in the Midlands