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Utah State Bird
California Gull
- Official Utah State Bird Name: California Seagull
- American Ornithologists' Union Common Name: California Gull
- Family: Laridae; Skuas, Gulls, Terns, Skimmers
- Scientific Name: Larus californicus
- Length: Male: 21" (53 cm)
- Wingspan: 54" (137 cm)
- Diet: Insects, invertebrates, vertebrates; worms, mice,
other birds and their eggs, garbage; in winter, takes crabs and fish
but mostly scavenges (especially fish).
- Voice:
Listen to California Gull Calls (recorded by Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
Hoarse, scratchy, somewhat deeper than Ring-billed;
harsher and higher than Herring; never clear tones. One common single
note gaaal similar to Great Black-backed. Long call rapid,
high, wheezy.
- Habitat: Seacoasts, lakes, farms, urban centers
- Displays: Complex soliciting; courtship feeding; "choking"
(swollen neck held in "S," breast pointed at ground). Male head
tosses, neck stretches, calls.
- Number of broods: 1
- Nest: Of sticks, dried weeds, rubbish, feathers;
often concealed under vegetation.
- Eggs: Averages 2-3 brown/olive/gray/olive-buff
eggs, marked with dark brown/gray. 2.7" (68 mm).
- Incubation period: 23-27 days
- Fledge: 45 days after hatching
- Longevity Record: 24 Years and 11 months (according to USGS
Bird Banding Lab)
The California Seagull was selected as the Utah State Bird by an act of the
legislature in 1955.
The gull is considered the State Bird of Utah by common consent, probably in
commemoration of the fact that these gulls saved the people of the State by
eating up the Rocky mountain crickets which were destroying the crops in 1848.
Orson F. Whitney says that in the midst of the devastation of the crickets,
"when it seemed that nothing could stay the devastation, great flocks of gulls
appeared, filling the air with their white wings and plaintive cries, and
settled down upon the half-ruined fields. fields. All day long they gorged
themselves, and when full, disgorged and feasted again, the white gulls upon the
black crickets, list hosts of heaven and hell contending, until the pests were
vanquished and the people were saved." After devouring the crickets, the gulls
returned "to the lake islands whence they came."
The Sea Gull Monument in Salt Lake City honors the California gull.
Two sculptured gulls stand atop the monument which was unveiled in 1913.
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