Learning to Live Alongside Gulls
Gulls get a lot of bad press, and in many ways it’s understandable. They are a familiar sight around coastal towns and cities hunting for an easy meal and they can swoop when defending their young. But there is far more to these birds than meets the eye, and with a debate coming up on Thursday in Holyrood, we thought we’d do a deep dive into gulls!
Theres no such thing as a Seagull
The gulls you may see on a trip to the beach are often lumped under the same term, “seagull”. Though they may look similar in appearance, there are actually over 50 gull species worldwide and they can be tricky to tell apart!
Herring gulls are the species we most see in urban areas around Scotland, and although you may observe them congregating in high numbers in cities and towns, they are on the UK Red List of serious conservation concern (the highest level) having declined by 48% since 1986.
Herring gulls are highly social, often mating for life. They are clever, and display lots of crafty problem-solving behaviour, like dropping shelled food from height to crack it open. You may also see them doing what looks like a dance on the ground, drumming their feet. They are creating vibrations in the soil (mimicking rain) to drive worms up to the surface to feed on. They have an average life span of 12 years, but it has been reported that they can live up to a whopping 49 years old! Their loud, laugh-like call is a characteristic part of any seaside day out and may bring back fond childhood memories of sandy toes and ice cream!
Why is a debate happening?
Communities and businesses around Scotland, for example in Moray, Nairn and Inverness have had significant problems with gulls in recent years. With many of their traditional coastal habitats being lost, some gulls have swapped cliffside ledges for rooftops and can be highly defensive of their nests, especially when they have young. They are nesting more and more on rooftops, as our urban areas have:
- An abundance of suitable nesting areas.
- Plenty of easy to obtain food.
- A relative absence of predators.
In Scotland, it is illegal to intentionally kill any gull or damage or destroy an active nest. NatureScot, Scotland’s nature agency, can licence actions in specific cases only when there is a risk to human health and safety. This doesn’t include nuisance or minor property damage. Last year, NatureScot approved fewer licenses than previous years and so a debate is happening around license control. If you are interested, you can watch the debate live on Scottish parliament TV tomorrow.
Can we share our space with gulls and minimise defensive or nuisance behaviour?
Gulls seem to be driven to urban areas due to food shortages and easy nesting opportunities. They are opportunistic scavengers and will go for food dropped in urban areas. We can share our space and minimise nuisance behaviour by:
- Warning people not to feed gulls (using campaigns and signs).
- Make sure we cut down on street littering.
- Install ‘gull-proof’ bins.
- Reduce the availability of nesting sites.
For more information, check out the following links:
https://www.nature.scot/doc/guidance-gull-identification-and-annual-cycle-guide
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Preface
Gulls get a lot of bad press, and in many ways it’s understandable. They are a familiar sight around coastal towns and cities hunting for an easy meal and they …