Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Western Gull
Scientific name:	Larus Occidentalis wymani
Date:	April 14, 2026
Time:	1:06pm
Length of time observed:	30 minutes
Number:	1
Age:	Adult
Sex:	Unknown
Location:	Antelope Island State Park Causeway
County:	Davis
Latilong:	41.065648, -112.232025
Elevation:	Unknown
Distance to bird:	Approximately 50 yards
Optical equipment:	Swarovski 10x42 binoculars, Canon EOS R6 with 100-500 zoom lens
Weather:	52-58F, cloudy and breezy with some haze.
Light Conditions:	Hazy conditions with clouds.
Description: Size of bird:	Large
(Description:) Basic Shape:	Gull shaped
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	Dark gray and white
(Description:) Bill Type:	Large, gull-like
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	This gull was a large, stocky, adult gull found on the shore of the Causeway. It had very dark-gray upperparts, similar to the Lesser/Great Black-backed Gulls. Its eyes were dark, with olive-colored irises and barely any color to its orbital ring. Its bill was yellow and bulbous-tipped with a red gonys spot, its gape pinkish. Its legs were also pink. (see photos)
Song or call & method of delivery:	None
Behavior:	The gull was on the beach with several other gulls eating rotting carp without any animosity toward each other, which was surprising. There were also two tourists walking on the beach and when they approached the gull it simply stepped aside and the couple passed both coming and going without causing the gull to fly. I thought that was interesting in that is was either starving and didn't want to leave the carp, or it was used to people back at its California beach home. It nipped away at the carp the entire observation time.
Habitat:	Beach with surrounding Great Salt Lake.
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	As shown in the attached photographs, because of the gull's very dark upperparts, I originally identified the gull as a Lesser Black-backed Gull (inline with recent Rare Bird Alerts). However, a more thorough review of the photographs proved that the gull's iris was not yellow, the orbital ring was not red, and the leg color was not yellow. These characteristics eliminated Lesser Black-backed Gull. Kelp Gull was also considered and eliminated for the wrong eye, gape and leg coloring. Great Black-backed Gull was considered due to the subject gull's pink legs and very dark mantle, but the adult Great Black-backed Gull is larger with a red orbital ring and red gape not shown in the subject gull. This eliminated the Great Black-backed Gull.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	This is my first experience observing the Western Gull in Utah. I have seen and recorded Western Gulls around 42 times in eBird from observations made off-shore in the Pacific and from the shores of California, Oregon and Washington. I've observed Great Black-backed Gulls in Maine and Florida and Lesser Black-backed Gulls in Utah and Florida, and 20 other gull species in the U.S. and around the world.
References consulted:	eBird reviewer Colby Neuman, Klaus Olsen's Gulls of the World, Sibley's Guide to the Birds, 2nd ed.
Description from:	From memory From photo(s) taken at the time of the sighting
Observer:	Mary McGreal
Observer's address:	3266 Sunset Hollow Dr, Bountiful, Utah 84010
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	No other birders were with me at the time.
Date prepared:	April 19, 2026
Additional material:	Photos (eBird checklist)
Additional comments:	In Gulls of the World, Olsen suggests that the dark upperparts approaching the darkness of the Great Black-backed Gull is characteristic of the Western Gull ssp wymani. From the photographs, this gull seems to meet that requirement for the subspecies.