This large arctic gull visits the Northwest in winter where its pale bulk often stands out in gull flocks. Finding one is a highlight of winter birding. Even at a distance the size and frosty tones of this bird can be spotted in a flock. Most Oregon birds are in the whitish first-or-second-year plumage showing a pinkish bill with sharply delineated black tip, but third-year birds and adults occur now and then, mainly on the north coast and at Sauvie Island.

They are rare but regular along the coast and the Columbia River, and rare in the Willamette Valley. It has the usual eclectic feeding habits of large gulls, and is usually at home at dumps, beaches and river fronts.

Hear the call of the Glaucous gill

Photo by Richard Mittleman, Flickr