Go-South Bull. (2014), 11, 33-36
First record of Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides) in the Moroccan
Atlantic Sahara
Cees DE VRIES (1) & Patrick BERGIER (2)
(1)
(2)
Het Wamellant 35, 1902 AS Castricum (The Netherlands)
[email protected]
Go-South - 4 Avenue Folco de Baroncelli – 13210 Saint Rémy de Provence (France)
www.go-south.org
[email protected]
Disponible en ligne (Available online): 23 April 2014
Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides) is a
nearctic species with two recognized sub
species: L. g. kumlieni breeds in North East
Canada and winters between the Labrador,
the Great Lakes and Virginia. It is
occasionally seen in Europe.
The nominate subspecies L. g. glaucoides
inhabits Greenland and winters locally but
also in Europe, mainly in Iceland, Faroe
Islands, Ireland, Great Britain and on the
Norwegian and Swedish coasts.
Breeding and wintering areas of the Iceland Gull (after Burger &
Gochfeld 1996)
Observations are rare in Western and
Southern Europe. However, there have been
155 records (166 individuals) in France
until 2005, mostly on the Atlantic coast
from Finistère to the Spanish border
(Dubois et al. 2008).
The species winters occasionally in mainland Spain (21 records approved until 2003, mainly on the Northern
coast of the country – de Juana 2006), and Portugal (26 records approved until 2010 –
http://www.avesdeportugal.info/largla.html).
There is a record in Gibraltar (14 January 1987 – de Juana 2006) and four from December to January in the
Canary Islands (three first-winter birds and an adult – García del Rey & García Vargas 2013).
In Western France, Spain and Portugal high numbers were seen since mid-December 2013 after severe
winter storms ( cf. WP reports in Dutch Birding 36: 124, 2014).
Records of Larus glaucoides in North Africa and Morocco
There is no record in Tunisia (Isenmann et al. 2005) or in Algeria (Isenmann & Moali 2000) but there are
seven data in Morocco, all on the Atlantic coast from Rabat (Oued Bou-Regreg) to Agadir (Oued Souss), with
the exception of a bird seen at Ceuta, Straits of Gibraltar:
•
A second-winter bird at the Oued Bou-Regreg estuary on December 28th, 1979 (Beaubrun 1979-80)
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ISSN 2269-9694
Larus glaucoides
•
A first-winter bird at the Oued Loukkos estuary on October 4th, 1980 (Beaubrun 1979-80)
•
A first-winter bird at Ceuta on January 16th, 1987 (A. Cambelo in Thévenot et al. 2003)
•
A sub-adult at the Oued Souss estuary from April 8th to May 30th, 2003 at least (V. Schollaert et al.,
C. Koller in Bergier et al. 2004 & 2005)
•
A third-winter bird photographed at Aghroud on January 11th, 2004 (H. Dufourny et al. in Bergier et
al. 2005)
•
A first-winter bird photographed at Essaouira on March 2nd – 4th, 2008 (P. Lampila et al., M.
Hornman et al. in Bergier et al. 2010)
•
A first-summer bird at the Oued Souss estuary on April 18th, 2009 (P. Vantieghem et al. in Bergier
et al. 2010)
The record of February 2014
During a trip in the Moroccan Atlantic Sahara, one of us (CdV) discovered a first-winter Iceland Gull at the
Oued Chebeika estuary on February 4th, 2014. The bird was probably pushed there after the severe storms that
swept the Atlantic in the preceding weeks and seemed in poor condition. CdV saw the bird again on February
12th. PB saw it then on February 19th and 26th and it was then flying perfectly.
This is the first record of this species in the Moroccan Atlantic Sahara.
References
Beaubrun, P.C. 1979-80. Premières observations au Maroc du Goéland leucoptère, Larus glaucoides. Bull. Inst.
sci. Rabat 4 : 193.
Bergier, P. ; Franchimont, J. ; Thévenot, M. & CHM 2004. Les oiseaux rares au Maroc. Rapport de la
Commission d'Homologation Marocaine numéro 9. Go-South Bulletin 1 : 13-17.
Bergier, P. ; Franchimont, J. ; Thévenot, M. & CHM 2005. Les oiseaux rares au Maroc. Rapport de la
Commission d'Homologation Marocaine numéro 10. Go-South Bulletin 2 : 23-30.
Bergier, P. ; Franchimont, J. ; Thévenot, M. & CHM 2010. Les oiseaux rares au Maroc. Rapport de la
Commission d'Homologation Marocaine numéro 15. Go-South Bulletin 7 : 1-14.
Burger, J. & Gochfeld, M. 1996. Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides). In: del Hoyo, J. ; Elliott, A. ; Sargatal, J. ;
Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.) 2013. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
(retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/53980 on 4 April 2014).
De Juana, E. 2006. Aves raras de España. Lynx Ediciones. 480 pp.
Dubois, P.J. ; Le Maréchal, P. ; Olioso, G. & Yésou, P. 2008. Nouvel inventaire des oiseaux de France.
Delachaux & Niestlé, Paris. 559 pp.
García-del-Rey, E. & Garcia Vargas, F.J. 2013. Rare Birds of the Canary Islands. Aves raras de las Islas
Canarias. Lynx Eds., Barcelona.
Isenmann, P. & Moali, A. 2000. Oiseaux d’Algérie / Birds of Algeria. S.E.O.F. (Société d'Etudes
Ornithologiques de France), Paris. 336 pp.
Isenmann, P. ; Gaultier, T. ; El Hili, A. ; Azafzaf, H. ; Dlensi, H. & Smart, M. 2005. Oiseaux de Tunisie /
Birds of Tunisia. S.E.O.F. (Société d'Etudes Ornithologiques de France), Paris. 432 pp.
Thévenot, M. ; Vernon, R. & Bergier, P. 2003. The Birds of Morocco. BOU Checklist No. 20. British
Ornithologists´ Union and British Ornithologists´ Club.
© 2014 Go-South, all rights reserved. Go-South Bull. (2014), 11, 33-36
Larus glaucoides
© 2014 Go-South, all rights reserved. Go-South Bull. (2014), 11, 33-36
Larus glaucoides
First-winter Larus glaucoides at Oued Chebeika estuary, February 19th, 2014 (Photo P. Bergier)
© 2014 Go-South, all rights reserved. Go-South Bull. (2014), 11, 33-36