Jim Rosso:
>(!) She asked him
>what kind of seagull and he finally responded that he thought it was the
>California Gull.

It is the California gull. But the historic event (eating grasshoppery
things) was probably shared by ring-billed gulls as well, and maybe
even Swainson's hawks!

The Mormons adopted the gull before statehood, and at the time the
California gull had probably been seen by very few ornithologists,
and the pioneers of the Salt Lake region were probably too busy
nearly starving to worry much about gulls that looked a bit different
than those of the east. If you were to read the first-hand accounts,
I'm certain they would say Seagull, not "the gull with the black and
red spots on the bill as opposed to the one with the ring around
the bill", etc. So the state's calling the state bird the "Seagull"
may well be viewed as correct as a tribute to events described by
the religious founders of the pioneer endeavor that became the
state. After all, they attribute the survival of the colony to
this miraculous event - the state bird means something a bit different
to these folks than, oh, the western meadowlark does to the seven
or so states which have it as their state bird.

Now...the seagull monument (that's what it's called) in downtown
Salt Lake is not only ugly, but it's unindentifiable as to species.
It's also somewhat covered with pigeon droppings :)

- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, more at http://www.xxxpdx.com/~dhogaza