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gull bills (1 Viewer)

S

scuba0095

Well-known member
Hello

I was just wondering are sea gulls bills powerful enough to rip flesh off an animal ?? Or dig into a dead fish?

Their bills dont seem all that powerful for killing birds & rats etc.. I was just wondering if its just the way they look? Are they as good at tearing stuff up as crows and ravens which seem to have more powerful looking thicker bills
 
Where I am in England the Gulls rip up fish, waste containers, each other, people....
The Greater black backs are huge, Herring gulls are 4ft plus wing span and very aggresive. In the 'love' season I've seen males spear a rival through the neck.
Black headed, Little gull, Mediterranean gull, Laughing gull etc are all pigeon sized and make a lot of noise but are not equiped to do any damage.
 

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scuba - Their bills are like serrated knives, and have incredible jaw force to boot. It's not fun working with angry gulls.
 
scuba0095 said:
could a herring gull or LBB gull break human skin easy with their bills ?
Click to expand...

Absolutely yes....

We have bye-laws making it illegal to feed them as they attack people at head level and do cause wounds - doesn't matter about size either - they will attack a baby if it has food.

They also attack during the breeding season and getting within 50ft would be enough to provoke them - when working on our roofs we wear yellow hard hats which either pacify them or scare them - not sure which.

They also give Guillemots and Grey seals a hard time stealing food from them - they are slowly learning to eat underwater.
 
Be thankful, because once you've had one clamp down and twist it's a excruciating reminder that they have means to defend themselves.
 
I do indeed, and I'll have you know that the Western Gull adults have the nastiest presonalities when they're feeling good (little snots), but that's the way I like them.
 
ayasuda sounds like you have a really fun job why not just wear gloves when handling the birds?

Also What gull species do u get to work with ?
 
It's hard to medicate/examine a bird with heavy gloves on. Hee Hee, the smarter volunteers bandage their fingers before working with the biters. Take your pick of gulls, the only one I personally have not seen is the Bonapart's and Glaucous. I'm still years off from positively identifying each gull and their age.
 
TorgosTracheliotus said:
Anyway I am a bit curious on which has a more powerful beak strength between covids and gulls. Could anyone tell me?
Click to expand...

I'd go for gulls everytime. As said earlier in the thread, gulls have serrated
edges to their bills. They shred and rip flesh. Corvids peck and enter flesh through weak area's of a body.
 
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