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Herring gulls - Hated or loved? (1 Viewer)

Articuno

Fan of Columbidae and Laridae
What are your views on herring gulls inhabiting the cities? Well personally I do not blame the birds for becoming urban because there are too many people littering and feeding the gulls when they should be fending for themselves. I like herring gulls a lot and I find it sad that where I live they are hated so much. There is a lot of cruelty to them and nobody seems to undersand that it is their own faults. So does anyone here find them a nuisance or do you like them just as much as any wild bird?
 
I think they are very elegant birds with a wonderful evocative call, and much underappreciated.

Don't have that many of them in London, there are usually more Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed on the Thames, and all the gulls together here don't seem to be perceived as a problem.
 
Gulls are a good example of how opportunistic birds are as a group (and hence why we love therm so much) yet I find it difficult to understand why people cannot step back and think for a moment. Gulls are a problem because they are protecting their young but isn't that how we would feel if our children were threatened?
 
They can be a nuisance sometimes!
A couple of weeks ago I was about to enter a restaurant in Birmingham with a group of workmates. Just seconds earlier I had remarked to myself what a lot of gulls Birmingham seems to have, then one scored a direct hit right down the left leg of my black jeans. Cue a not very graceful entrance to the restaurant surrounded by my so called mates who were all in complete hysterics.

Still it was an excellent shot from high altitude.

Des.
 
Love em, just had a week in scarborough and to see the young in all stages of plumage was great. Dusk & Dawn were the best times with their loud calls.
bert.
 
I go with the love em brigade, we have loads round here mainly Herring Gulls, sure they can be a nuisance at times but can't everthing.

Mick
 
I love the Gulls.When we lived in Nottingham I used to have withdrawal symptons when I saw them on the field opposite to our house,and I used to wish we were back up here in Cumbria.In fact when I saw one flying on its own this evening across a dark cloudy sky,I wondered where it was going ,was it to it's mate ,had it got a safe nest for the night.Sound silly,but they are part of our heritage.When they attack people they are usually defending their young.Beautiful white birds agains't the clear blue sky.
 
From your avatar I could not tell which half was girl and which half was bird. lol

Here in mid-continent of the U.S. we only get gulls at various times of the year. Winter is a good time, especially on the Mississippi River which is the border of eastern Missouri. We mainly get Ring-billed Gulls, with Herring Gulls being the second most abundant. The other "more commonly occurring" gulls are Franklin's and Bonaparte's. On really good "gull days" in the winter on the Mississippi River there have been 8 or 9 species observed.

I like'em!
 
Larry, my avatar is special.My two loves in life,fast bikes and our feathered friends.(not forgetting Barry(hubby ) and Alfie ,our dog)We have Gulls all the year round,mostly the usual,Herring,Blackheaded,Blackbacked,etc.They are part of our way of life.
 
Hi Christine,

I "sort of mis-fired" with my post which you refer to above. I was trying to be a little funny and was addressing the question to Articuno (initiator of this thread). Under her avatar is the quote "Half girl half bird".

All the best,
 
I love them. I love their call and I love the way they liven places up. It is sad the way people want to harm them and get rid of them. There was an appalling story a couple of years back when some lowlife in Brighton (I think it was) deliberately ran over a group of Herring Gulls and killed some and injured others - the police did their best, but I don't think the toe rag responsible was caught.

One of the funniest birding sights for me was a few years ago down at the docks here in Southampton watching two Herring Gulls fighting over a fish one had caught. The fish eventually tore in half.
 
I accept them as part of the fabric of the Great Lakes.They are in the minority usually bullied by Ringbilled gulls.They have been totally run off of some favorite perches by double crested cormorantsThey manage to hold their own despite the hassels. I like herring gulls
Sam
 
Gajo said:
So what do we do if a gull attacks a child?


Gary

Let me make the case clearly here, I am not saying there cannot be any controls whatsoever but I am right with the RSPB in saying that we cannot allow controls to take place outside the General License. As it turns out, LBBG were attacking children on South Stack in June but that is hardly a surprise when everyone was walking through their nest site and children will not be told to stay on the path. However, when it comes to urban gulls we have a reversal of the problem and councils are boxing clever over the solution. As per usual, some councils are advocating the easy and most cautious way out when there are other solutions available. The whole Environmental Health subject is in a mess at local level because too many councils have trimmed the budgets and this was an obvious area to hit. The EH departments are rightly cautious about potential H&S compensations claims but they are not looking into the deeper problem. Gulls are nesting on flat roofs because they can yet there are several anti-roosting devices available that are extremely effective at preventing this. Of course, property owners are saying they cannot afford this and councils could not fund the devices. Yet, controls are only a short-term solution anyway and more gulls will to replace any that are removed. Also, we have to be mindful that removal of nests and the methods employed to do so are not legal under Cruelty Laws (throwing gull chicks off the roof - as has been related to me on more than one occasion).
 
Gajo said:
Why is the killing of a bird apalling, whereas the tearing in two of a fish is one of the funniest things you've seen?

Gary


*Sigh* I wish there was a "banging head on desk" smiley. Come off your high horse, please...

Because the killing of the gulls was a deliberate act of cruelty on the part of some stupid little toerag driving a car, while the fish "incident" was part of the natural course of the gulls' lives. They are surviving. That's why. Watching the two gulls squabbling over the fish was amusing actually, from a birding perspective - they are amusing, lively birds.
People who compare the acts of wildlife trying to survive with deliberate acts of cruelty on the part of people need to get real.

As for gulls attacking kids, that would only happen if the kids were near the nest sites and when the kids are out of the way, the gulls would stop.
 
We have a small number, ring billed more. I know where to find them in winter on the river. Not a problem here.
 
I'm amazed at how greedy they are. In Brixham I would get fish and chips and then throw the battered skin into the back garden. A Herring Hull would swallow the Haddock shaped skin in one go. I once had some old bananas, so peeled them and left them out. Sure enough, Herring Gulls landed and swallowed them whole. I was amazed they could still fly. I've read that they can swallow a live chick whole.
 
Herring Gulls are great especially when you have fish and chips or a pasty, then you can really look them in the eyes! Amazing!

Once in Jersey I saw an obese family walking the beach with ice creams and a Herring Gull swopped down for the man's ice cream. It took off with it but what happened next was amazing. The obese man RAN after the gull trying to get his ice cream back. It must have been the first time he ran more than a hundred yards! The gull dropped it in the sand and had time to retrieve it then make for the rocks out of reach!

Herring Gulls also have another advantage. Large groups of them in estuaries attract rarer species. They often feel confident with them so become easily twitchable!
 
My mum lives in a coastal village on the Isle of Wight where, inevitably, there are lots of gulls. They got to know when I was going to emerge with food and lined up on the roof of the house opposite when they knew I was coming out of the front door with goodies for them. They are very intelligent birds.
 
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