Verification of Unusual
Sight Record
For Utah
Rec. # 2009-21
| Common name: |
Little Gull |
| Scientific name: | Larus minutus |
| Date: | 07 November 2009 |
| Time: | 8:15 AM |
| Length of time observed: | several hours |
| Number: | 1 |
| Age: | adult |
| Sex: | ? |
| Location: | Antelope Island Causeway near marina bridge |
| County: | |
| Latilong: | |
| Elevation: | |
| Distance to bird: | 100 - 150 feet |
| Optical equipment: | Swarovski 10x42 binoculars - ?Swarovski 80mm spoting scope |
| Weather: | clear |
| Light Conditions: | very good |
| Description: Size of bird: | small gull |
| (Description:) Basic Shape: | gull |
| (Description:) Overall Pattern: | basic plumage |
| (Description:) Bill Type: | short |
|
(Description:)
Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics: |
very small gull - light gray back and wings - black under wings - round wing
tips - reddish legs - dark crown - dark spot behind eye - wing tips while
sitting on water were white please see photos |
| Song or call & method of delivery: | none |
| Behavior: | actively feeding in lake - flying in near shore and drifting out and flying back several times each hour |
| Habitat: | lake |
| Similar
species and
how were they eliminated: |
It was with a couple of hundred Bonaparte's Gulls. They are a little bigger, but you have to see them next to each other to tell that. The wing tips on Bonaparte's Gulls are black and they don't have as much of a dark cap. |
| Previous
experience with this & similar species: |
none, but lots with Bonaparte's Gulls |
| References consulted: | Sibley Guide to birds - Peterson |
| Description from: | From memory |
| Observer: | Jack Binch |
| Observer's address: | 1564 Crest Circle - Sandy, Utah - 84093 |
| Observer's e-mail address: | roostertael@aol.com |
| Other observers who independently identified this bird: | Tim Avery - Larene Wyss - many others |
| Date prepared: | 11 Nov. 2009 |
| Additional material: | Photos |
| Additional_Comments: |