Seagulls Can Fly, Swim, and Walk Efficiently

Seagulls are resourceful, inquisitive, and intelligent. There are more than 40 species of seagulls with their colors and wing patters helping to distinguish their species. Gulls typically have harsh wailing or squawking calls, stout, longish bills, and webbed feet. They have complex methods of communication and a highly developed social structure. Most gulls are omnivores, taking live food or scavenging opportunistically. They feed on insects, mollusks, and crustaceans on beaches; worms and grubs in plowed fields; fish along shores; and garbage from ships. Some of the larger gulls prey on the eggs and the young of other birds, including their own kind. Herring gulls are scavengers as well as expert thieves, boldly stealing food from other birds and snatching sandwiches out of beachgoer’s hands. They also hunt moles and even rabbits, hovering over their holes waiting for the quarry to appear. The adaptable seagull has learned to coexist successfully and has thrived in human habitats.

Seagulls are monogamous and display mate fidelity that usually lasts for the life of the pair. They begin to assemble for a few weeks prior to occupying the colony. Nesting in large, densely packed, noisy colonies, seagulls display high levels of site fidelity, returning to the same colony after breeding there once. Colonies can vary from just a few pairs to over a hundred thousand pairs. Within colonies, seagulls defend their nesting territories from rivals of both sexes through calls and aerial attacks. Most gulls breed once a year and have predictable breeding seasons lasting for three to five months. They lay two or three speckled eggs in nests composed of vegetation. The young are born with dark mottled down and are mobile upon hatching.