Morphological and genetic analyses reveal the first Mediterranean occurrence of American Herring Gull Larus smithsonianus

  1. Salvador García Barcelona
  2. Tereza Senfeld 1
  3. Thomas J. Shannon 2
  4. J. Martin Collinson
  5. Pim Edelaar
  6. Asier Aldalur
  7. Gabriel Martín
  8. Juan Luis García Mudarra 3
  9. Javier Juste 3
  1. 1 School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen
  2. 2 2 School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen
  3. 3 Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC)
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Journal:
Revista catalana d'ornitologia = Catalan journal of ornithology

ISSN: 1697-4697

Year of publication: 2021

Issue: 37

Pages: 1-9

Type: Article

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More publications in: Revista catalana d'ornitologia = Catalan journal of ornithology

Abstract

We report here the first record of an American Herring Gull Larus smithsonianus in a Mediterranean coastal site (18 February–14 March 2019, Fuengirola, Malaga, S Spain). This gull was an adult bird and its identification was confirmed by a combination of mtDNA molecular analyses and morphological characters. This record furthermore stands as possibly the first ever adult bird of the ‘Niagara’ phenotype in Europe, which would indicate that it originated from the central region of USA/Canada or even from the west coast. This is the southernmost record of an adult bird of this species in the Western Palearctic and the eleventh for the Iberian Peninsula since 1991.

Data source: Dialnet