Slaty-backed Gull––a distinctive and uncommon Asian gull makes a surprising appearance with a begging youngster near Nome

Slaty-backed Gull––a distinctive and uncommon Asian gull makes a surprising appearance with a begging youngster near Nome

By Kate Persons A friend of mine jokingly calls all of our gulls “slaty-backed gulls.” Descriptively, he’s got a point since most of the region’s mature gulls do indeed have gray backs. But the real slaty-backed gull stands way out from the crowd––its back is strikingly darker than that of our other gull species. Slaty-backs are uncommon here, and eye-catching. The slaty-backed gull is a Beringian species of northeast Asia. Its scientific speci…