Verification of Unusual
Sight Record
For Utah
Rec. # 2020-32
| Common name: |
Laughing Gull |
| Scientific name: | Leucophaeus atricilla |
| Date: | 08/14/2020 |
| Time: | 9:40 |
| Length of time observed: | 30 seconds |
| Number: | 1 |
| Age: | adult |
| Sex: | unknown |
| Location: | Willard Bay State Park |
| County: | Box Elder |
| Latilong: | |
| Elevation: | |
| Distance to bird: | 20-150ft |
| Optical equipment: | 10X50 vortex binoculars |
| Weather: | sunny, clear, no wind |
| Light Conditions: | sunny |
| Description: Size of bird: | Ring-billed Gull |
| (Description:) Basic Shape: | gull |
| (Description:) Overall Pattern: | white belly, dark back, black wingtips |
| (Description:) Bill Type: | gull-like, some what thick |
|
(Description:)
Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics: |
Flyover; first seen from the front, then from behind. Head had dark hood, bill was dark. Belly, tail, and underwings were white. Back was dark, and wing tips were jet black, no windows or other markings. The wings were also quite pointed. |
| Song or call & method of delivery: | None |
| Behavior: | Flying low from berm of bay to Phragmites |
| Habitat: | Wetland |
| Similar
species and
how were they eliminated: |
Dark hood eliminated California and Ring-billed Gull; size, bill shape, and tail eliminated terns; size also eliminated Bonaparte's Gull. Was too large for Sabine's Gull and lacked the white triangle wing window. Slightly larger than Franklin's Gull with larger bill, slower wing beats, and all dark, pointed primaries with no white tips. |
| Previous
experience with this & similar species: |
Familiar with Bonaparte's, Sabine's, and Franklin's in Utah to see that this was different, have also encountered this bird in Florida & North Carolina |
| References consulted: | Gulls Simplified, and other field guides |
| Description from: | From memory |
| Observer: | Ian Batterman |
| Observer's address: | |
| Observer's e-mail address: | ** |
| Other observers who independently identified this bird: | Unfortunately, I was so preoccupied trying to look at its field marks that I failed to alert the others in my party...I was worried I'd lose sight of the bird as it eventually disappeared into the Phrag |
| Date prepared: | 08/17/20 |
| Additional material: | No_additional_Materials |
| Additional comments: |