Glaucous-winged Gull (Western Gull hybrid)

A classic medium-gray body or mantle feather belonging to a large Pacific coastal gull. These birds are robust with heavy bills, pale gray mantles, and pink legs, highly adaptable and common along the coast of British Columbia.

Solid, uniform soft pearl-gray or medium slate-gray coloration with a whitish base and fluffy downy under-feathers. No distinct banding or patterning, typical of adult mantle or upper body plumage.

Pennaceous at the upper tip transitioning smoothly into plumulaceous (fluffy, downy) barbs near the base. Barbs are intact with standard barbicels forming a cohesive vane.

Central rachis is moderately thin, white near the base and fading into a pale gray matching the vane toward the tip. Barbs are uniformly dense and angled.

Smooth and soft to the touch with a matte appearance. The lower base is exceptionally fluffy and down-like.

Body covert or mantle feather, likely from the upper back, mantle, or breast region given its size and uniform gray coloration.

Uniform soft pearl-gray vane, pale shaft, and fluffy plumulaceous base without any dark subterminal bands or complex spotting.

Coastal marine environments, beaches, rocky shores, estuaries, and increasingly inland municipal areas such as landfills, parking lots, and agricultural fields.

Pacific coast of North America, stretching from Alaska down through British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and into northwestern Mexico.

Acts as an opportunistic scavenger, marine predator, and nutrient recycler within coastal and marine ecosystems.

California Gull or Mew Gull, which may show different shades of gray or smaller sizing, and various other large gulls in the Pacific Northwest.

Glaucous-winged Gulls frequently hybridize with Western Gulls along the Pacific Northwest coast, creating a complex spectrum of hybrid phenotypes often referred to informally as 'Olympic Gulls'.

Historically used in limited indigenous regalia and feather work, though gulls are generally valued more for their ecological indicator status than specific craft uses.

Look along coastal beaches, rocky outcroppings, or near piers where large gulls congregate, roost, and undergo annual molt.

Good condition. The vane is largely intact with minor normal wear at the very edge of the tip.

Tsawwassen bc