Date: 12/23/25 5:05 pm From: Nick Lethaby via groups.io <nlethaby...> Subject: [sbcobirding] American Herring Gull status in the county
All,
The ebird review team for the county has recently been conducting a review of records of American Herring Gull records in the county. Given that many birders have problems with gulls, it was unsurprising that we found quite a few problems.
One important fact to note is that there is significant difference in the status of this species between the N and S Coasts. At favored locations on the N Coast, such as the Santa Ynez and Santa Maria RIver Mouths, you can reasonably expect to see a few American Herring Gulls provided there is a decent gull flock present and on good days double digit counts are regular.
On the South Coast, I would say that American Herring Gulls should not be expected anywhere, although if you regularly check the better gull spots like LLC, Goleta Beach and Mission Creek outflow, you will certainly see 1 or 2 birds on some visits. Numbers can get a little higher from mid-March to early April when migrants pass N through the area, but a count of five birds is a good one.
One point to emphasize is data entry errors. Some of the records I unconfirmed lacked a count for California Gulls and it is very likely that the person simply entered the CAGU total by mistake in the Herring Gull box.
I just got through clearing out every count of American Herring Gull of over 7 on the S Coast, with the exception of one by me in spring migration. The good news is that none of these were by regular local birders. However, I would encourage folks to photograph any putative American Herring Gulls. The review team can then provide feedback if there is an issue.
Regards,
Nick Lethaby
Nick Lethaby Goleta, CA <nlethaby...> +1 805 284 6200
