For our third everyday animal I thought it only appropriate to do a post on the animals that inspired me to do this blog in the first place: seagulls!
However, seagull might be a common term in everyday use, but taxonomically it has no real meaning. What we refer to as “seagulls” are really just a number of different types of white headed gulls that may or may not live by the sea. In fact, in Western North America alone there are at least 20 species of gulls that might be considered seagulls, many of which can live nowhere near the sea! Each of these species is unique, and I hope to get around to all of them eventually, but for today, I am going to focus on just one: the California Gull (pictured here).
Why the California gull? Because its bad ass that’s why! Although many of us Californians might think of them as pests, the people of Utah certainly seem to appreciate them enough to build a golden statue in their honor and to make them the state bird. The reasoning for this goes way back to the mid 19th century, when Joseph Smith and his Mormon followers were settling in Utah near the Great Salt Lake. While already struggling to find a place to settle, the settlers were set upon by a swarm of crickets, specifically the species now knows as Mormon Crickets. This swarm of biblical (ah, get it?) proportions quickly ate any and all crops that the settlers had grown, and the entire settlement faced collapse and starvation.
Finally, one day, the settlement was saved by none other than the California Gull. Known to live in great numbers around the Great Salt Lake, the gulls flew in to devour the crickets, finally driving the insect off. The settlers were finally able to begin their harvest and establish a solid foundation for their settlement. Though it almost certainly wasn’t prayer that caused the gulls to descend onto the crickets, the settlers had the gulls to thank for their lives none-the-less.
Seen as divine intervention by many followers of Mormonism, the statue was erected in 1913 honoring this “Miracle of the Gulls.” Because of the church’s major involvement in the establishment of Utah as a territory and a state, the state government also recognized the historical significance of the Miracle of the Gulls and has since established the California Gull as the Utah state bird.
Now I know that this was not a very science oriented post, but it was such a cool story (after all, how many other species of birds do you know that have their own golden statue?) that it deserved its own post. But not to worry! There will be another post on California Gulls coming up on Saturday which will go back to focusing on ecology and physiology. So if you still don’t appreciate the California Gull, I’m sure you soon will.
Note: I am in no way associated with Mormonism or the Mormon Church
Here were my references:
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