When Euro-American settlers first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah, they had a hard time growing their crops.

One of the biggest challenges they faced occurred in 1848.

That spring, vast hordes of crawling insects overwhelmed the crops, which had already been weakened by drought and late frosts. The bugs were devouring

everything in their path. They seemed unstoppable, and the settlers were facing certain starvation.

According to legend, however, salvation came that spring on June 9th, in the form of a great flock of white gulls.

The birds descended from the sky as if to answer the settlers' prayers.

The gulls are coming! The gulls are coming! We're saved!

The birds swooped into the crop fields and gorged on the insects.

These were California gulls, Laris Californicus, year-round residents of the Salt Lake area in Utah.

The swarming insects, we now know, were Mormon crickets, Anabris Simplex. This episode in Utah's history

is known as the miracle of the gulls. The story might be only partially true. All the same,

the people of Utah were so grateful to the birds that they eventually named the California

gull as their state bird.

There's even a bronze statue in Salt Lake City called the Seagull Monument.

This isn't the sort of story most of us are used to hearing about gulls.

More often, people like to trash talk gulls. They complain about them and make fun of them.

In my experience, it's even hard to get birders and other bird enthusiasts interested,

much less excited about gulls. These birds often get a bad rap, and I'd say that's both unfair and

unfortunate.

But interestingly, the close cousins of gulls, the turns, seem to be more appreciated and celebrated.

So today, let's extend our circle of appreciation to include the entire family of gulls and turns.

Let's learn about the wonderful bird family known as Laridie.

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