Gulls Simplified by Pete Dunne and Kevin T. Karlson — Review

This clearly-written and beautifully-illustrated book is a must-have for all birders, presenting a simplified method for identifying all those confusing gull species of North America

by GrrlScientist for Medium | @GrrlScientist

“I don’t do gulls.”

Is this the year when you decide to face your birding demons head-on? Will you finally tackle your last, and greatest, bird ID challenge, the gulls? If so, then the book you most need is Pete Dunne’s and Kevin T. Karlson’s Gulls Simplified: A Comparative Approach to Identification [Princeton University Press, 2018; Amazon US / Amazon UK].

This helpful book features hundreds of gorgeous colour photographs of North American gulls, illustrating plumage variations for a diversity of ages, teaching birders to really see these birds by giving useful visual reference points for each species. Further, photographs are accompanied by detailed captions that explain identification and ageing criteria that reinforce what birders should pay particular attention to in each image.

As field guides go, this book is different. Rather than presenting the vast, dizzying array of gull plumage minutiæ that are covered in traditional field guides, this handy manual takes a step back from all that: It uses a comparative approach to simplify gull identification by focusing on size, shape, and basic plumage characteristics of each gull species. It also highlights identifying field marks and physical features for each gull.

The book is 208 pages long and includes 330 colour illustrations that cover the 22 regularly occurring gull species in North America, along with 5 “dark horse gulls” — rare or unlikely gulls — and of course, hybrid gulls. It also features a photographic gull quiz with detailed answers to help you review key concepts that the authors are teaching.

This paperback is large and is printed on hefty, high quality paper so it is too back-breaking to use regularly as a field guide, but it is an excellent reference and study guide. (I also would recommend using it whilst sitting at popular gull roosts to methodically work your way through each bird present.) Although this book only covers North American gulls, the methodology can be adapted and applied to identifying gull species in other parts of the world, too. Highly recommended for intermediate and advanced birders, as well as ambitious beginning bird watchers, and anyone who has decided that 2019 will be the year when they will devote themselves to “doing gulls”.

Pete Dunne is Birding Ambassador at Large for New Jersey Audubon. His books include Hawks in Flight, Birds of Prey (with Kevin T. Karlson), and Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion. Kevin T. Karlson is an accomplished birder, tour leader, and wildlife photographer. His books include the Peterson Reference Guide to Birding by Impression and The Shorebird Guide.