News All — Chicago Bird Alliance

Report injured birds to our friends at Chicago Bird Collision Monitors: 773 988 1867

Search Our Site

Woody Goss

The Perfect Vagrant Fallacy

The Perfect Vagrant Fallacy

This article looks at gull identification through the lens of evolutionary biology and genetics. It discusses when it becomes necessary to move beyond rigid taxonomic categories and instead focus on variation in genes and traits. For birdwatchers, who can only deal in observable traits, this approach is crucial to avoid unwarranted assumptions about genetics—assumptions that can lead to false confidence when assessing vagrancy or hybrid ancestry.

Share