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IORC Number
1927.001

Species/Form in Question
Western Gull

Scientific Name
Larus occidentalis

Current Status of Record:
Rejected

Date of Initial Sighting:
1927-10-19

Date of Last Sighting:
1927-11-17

Quantity:
1

Age/Gender:
near adult

Observers(s)
A.M. Bailey

Location
Lincoln Park, Chicago

Counties Observed in:
Cook

References
18th IORC Report
4th IORC Report


Details
Chicago Academy of Sciences specimen #1663. 

As reported in the 4th IORC Report:
One old specimen record of a near-adult at Lincoln Park, Chicago, Cook County 19 Oct - 17 Nov (1927.001; #CAS 1663): collected by A.M. Bailey and identified by Jonathan Dwight as assignable to the subspecies L. o. wymani; see Wright and Komarek 1928. Jehl and Devillers (in litt.) examined this specimen in 1971 and confirmed the specific identification, although they claimed the subspecies to be L. o. occidentalis. The specimen has been critically re-examined several times over by professional ornithologists, all of whom have apparently concurred on the identification at the species level.

Wright EG and Komarek E. 1928. The Western Gull (Larus occidentalis wymani) in the Chicago area. Auk 45:200.

As reported in the 18th IORC Report:
One immature bird, 19 Oct - 17 Nov 1927 (1927.001). Examination of this specimen by Robert Hughes and Amar Ayyash convinced the Committee that this bird was actually a Glaucous-winged X Western Gull hybrid, and the decision to reject the record as Western Gull and thereby remove Western Gull from the state list was unanimous.
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