Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Bronzed Cowbird
Scientific name:	Molothrus Aeneus
Date:	10/19/25
Time:	roughly 4;30 PM
Length of time observed:	15 seconds
Number:	1
Age:
Sex:
Location:	Willard Bay SP, specifically north west corner of the campground
County:	box elder
Latilong:
Elevation:
Distance to bird:	closest being 15-20ft
Optical equipment:	vortex 10 x 50
Weather:	calm, cloudy.
Light Conditions:	light conditions were good overall, although bird was backlit.
Description: Size of bird:	medium sized, seemingly BRBL in size
(Description:) Basic Shape:	bulky, short tailed, really looked like a black grosbeak.
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	completely dark
(Description:) Bill Type:	large grosbeak like bill
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	first alerted by a weird chirp call coming from deep in a tree. my first thought was "what the heck is that." I approached the sound to which a blackbird (not too backlit to tell that this was obviously an all dark bird) popped up, looked around for a few seconds, then flew towards me and too my left, headed seemingly towards the popular beach by the marina. a few things of note; this bird had a huge honkin bill. it was like an elongated grosbeak bill, the size of its face. the bird was all dark, short tailed in flight, with stocky wings. the call was unlike any blackbird call I've heard. I often practice overhead flight calls of blackbirds and feel as though I'm relatively comfortable picking them out as they go by. again this one seemed totally unfamiliar to me. it was like a somewhat low squirrely chirp call, but soft compared to a RWBL or BRBL flight call, which are significantly more chunky and substantial, and seem to carry far. after I had seen the bird, and watched it fly away (it continued with these flight calls until it disappeared out of eyesight and earshot.) I thought "was that a Bronzed Cowbird?" and immediately pulled up merlin to listen to calls. fresh on my mind, the flight calls matched well with merlin's "call type 1". which I've used as a reference later in trying to cover my bases. to my ear, they sounde d identical back-to-back. while searching on ebird through calls and songs, I found a few things: first, there's not a lot of data on BROC's. with a small number of recordings on ebird of this species, I was only able to find a few calls matching what I heard, and matching call type 1 on merlin. however they are on there. I'm not sure if this is a typical flight call, or contact call, ETC, considering i have no previous experience with this species. Secondly, I was unable to find call types that matched from RWBL YHBL BRBL or BHCO. its important to note, that even though i was relatively close to this bird, due to being backlit, I wouldn't have been able to see a red eye, which of course would have been the deal sealer.
Song or call & method of delivery:	soft chirp call as described
Behavior:	seemed like any old blackbird. popped up, and flew off with similar wing beats to any blackbird Sp. although oddly completely alone.
Habitat:	dense Russian olives and cottonwoods along the shoreline of Willard bay SP
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	BRBL: a very similar species, but bill too substantial tail too short and head too bulky for BRBL. Call type not close to the familiar and substantial CHUCK call I always hear from BRBL. YHBL: ruled out by similar reasons but also lacking any coloration of a YHBL. my bird was totally dark. RWBL: ruled out by similar reasons, call type wrong, bill way to thick, no red in the wings, not brown and streaky like a female, ETC. RWBL obviously make an array of call types so I took my time in listening to recordings to see if any were matches. none to my ear. even their call types that could be described as a "chirp" call, I'm plenty familiar with and would have recognized. too chunky and substantial, not the right shape. BHCO: this being the most similar species although too different to be considered. bill too big, size of bird too big, call types don't match. i know size can be subjective and sometimes hard to judge, but it seemed too apparent that I wasn't looking at a BHCO. like seeing a Grosbeak Vs a House finch. both examples not being that big of a difference in size on paper, but when you see either, its obviously noticeable. Any Grackle species would be bigger, longer tailed, and significantly longer billed
Previous experience with this & similar species:	thousands and thousands of all other blackbird species common to Utah. just a few hours before this sighting, I had come across a large mixed flock of hundreds blackbirds which had BRBL RWBL YHBL and BHCO in numbers. I've scanned through thousands and thousands of blackbirds looking for COGR and RUBL. roughly 10 COGR in Utah, and many GTGR.
References consulted:	Sibley, merlin, ebird.
Description from:	Notes taken at the time of the sighting
Observer:	McKay Olson
Observer's address:
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:
Date prepared:	10/23/2025
Additional material:
Additional comments:	in conclusion, as crazy and not on my radar as this species is especially for northern Utah, I believe there is enough here between structure and call to effectively rule out other species. however,i really want to cover my bases here. left as Blackbird Sp on my list until conclusion. no photos due to running out of SD card space earlier in the day.