Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	McCown's Longspur
Scientific name:	Rhynchophanes mccownii
Date:	10/17/18
Time:	8:50 AM
Length of time observed:	5 seconds
Number:	1
Age:	unk
Sex:	unk
Location:	Antelope Island Causeway second bridge
County:	Davis
Latilong:
Elevation:
Distance to bird:	30 ft
Optical equipment:	none
Weather:	Clear and sunny, day with light north wind and birds were on the move
Light Conditions:	Terrible. was basically looking into bright early morning, low-angle sunlight
Description: Size of bird:	Small passerine, about the size of a large sparrow
(Description:) Basic Shape:	Long, slightly tapered wings was the main thing I digressed in the brief moment I observed it.
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	Most of the front of the bird was in bad glare
(Description:) Bill Type:
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	Heard the call and immediately knew it was a longspur rattle of the non-Lapland variety. I pivoted and looked up and just caught a glimpse of the bird. It largely looked like a gray silhouette, but the sun caught and lit up a white tail, slightly flared, which caused the narrow dark terminal band to show up clearly. The bird was flying SSE so its path took it immediately into very strong sun glare. I followed it naked eye, noting a powerful, bouncing flight style, for a few seconds before it completely disappeared into the glare from the sun. During this brief encounter I heard the bird three times: the intital call; once right after I looked up and saw it; once after it had disappeared into the sun glare.
Song or call & method of delivery:	A quick, soft, almost gentle sounding rattle. Less emphatic, slightly shorter in length, and slightly more musical than that of Lapland. Not at all like the odd "Kittle" call of CCLO, and softer and more musical than the very dry rattle of Smith's.
Behavior:	Flying SSE directly and rapidly.
Habitat:	Flight
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	The pattern of the tail and the call were diagnostic.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	Having heard the rattle of LALO everyday dozens if not hundreds of times a day for seven months last year on the Pribilof Islands, I immediately knew that this rattle wasn't a LALO rattle. I've heard every variation of LALO rattle under every conceivably condition so many times I was hearing it in my sleep last year. McCown's I have far less experience with. I did three summers of breeding transects in grasslands in Wyoming and Colorado for Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory where I encountered them frequently, but that was 10+ years ago. Other than that I've encountered them 20-30 times, usually briefly, most recently last year. My initial impression of the call was 100% not LALO or CCLO, and I immediately thought MCLO before I looked up and saw the tail pattern. My experience with CCLO is similar to that with MCLO. While I've seen SMLO only a handful of times.
References consulted:	Right after the sighting I play the rattle call of all 4 Longspurs on Xeno-Canto just to refresh my memory. The rattle of McCown's was a perfect match for what I had just heard.
Description from:	Notes made later
Observer:	Cameron Cox
Observer's address:	1479 S 35 E, Farmington, UT 84025
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	none
Date prepared:	10/26/18
Additional material:	No_additional_Materials
Additional comments: