Do seagulls kill other gulls chicks? (1 Viewer)

[tracey-marie]

Ive been watching two herring gulls raise three chicks right through this summer. The chicks are now a fair size but havent left the nest. As i was just watching them, three other gulls tried swooping down on the nest with one of the parents protecting the chicks for dear life. Ive never seen this before. Id hate for something to happen to them now. Surely they were just after food which had been dropped or something??

 

[Mike Johnston]

Ive been watching two herring gulls raise three chicks right through this summer. The chicks are now a fair size but havent left the nest. As i was just watching them, three other gulls tried swooping down on the nest with one of the parents protecting the chicks for dear life. Ive never seen this before. Id hate for something to happen to them now. Surely they were just after food which had been dropped or something??

Many species of gull, especially in large colonies, cannibalise eggs and young. Sometimes this is a result of overcrowding and lack of food, but some gulls in the breeding season live almost entirely on the eggs and young of their own species. Usually males with no young of their own.

 

[jim_birder]

i know herring gulls take any eggs they can get their beaks on

 

[Tero]

If there is a trend at all, the larger the gull species, the more likely it is to do it.

 

[timmyjones]

Ive seen a probable Caspian gull try to eat several black headed gulls pinning them down to the water before they managed to escape. Thought that it might have been to busy migrating to eat then found a gull roost and felt peckish.

 

[nirofo]

Eating other birds young and swallowing them whole, even from the same species is just an ordinary day at the hunter gathering for a Seagull, they'll even take adult Puffins from in front of their nest burrows. Many species of seabird, such as Storm Petrels and Manx Shearwaters only come onto land during the nesting season and then only at night when it's dark. This is to avoid predation by large gulls such as Great Black-backed Gulls and skuas such as the Great Skua (Bonxie).

It's an hard life if you're lower down the food chain!

nirofo.

 

[Anhinga Watcher]

Ive been watching two herring gulls raise three chicks right through this summer. The chicks are now a fair size but havent left the nest. As i was just watching them, three other gulls tried swooping down on the nest with one of the parents protecting the chicks for dear life. Ive never seen this before. Id hate for something to happen to them now. Surely they were just after food which had been dropped or something??

Gulls are opportunisitic animals. Scarcity of food may drive these birds to cannibalism. Gulls are also extremely protective of their nests, and it happens that within a colony, a curious chick may wander off from its nest and reach other guarded nests. The other adult seagull, taking the curious chick as a threat, will instantly kill it or attack it, in order to defend the nest. Gull colony is a harsh place for fledglings' survival!

Tim

 

[JiBirdWatcher]

Wow. I came here because I’ve been watching a male seagull feed and protect a youngster in an urban setting. One latenight a seagull flew in and made one vocal call. The baby seagull started whistling repeatedly and went over to the seagull. The seagull didn’t give him any food and led him into the parking garage. Which was odd. I couldn’t see where they went and I didn’t want to disturb them…but heard the baby seagull whistling for about 5-10 minutes and then heard nothing. Moments later I saw the adult seagull fly into the second floor of the garage which is also unusual for these. Because I’ve been watching them. I checked the parking garage to see if the baby was around and maybe had relocated but didn’t see him. No one has seen him for three days now. And now I’m starting to think that the seagull who I thought was helping the baby seagull actually wasn’t the parent but one of the enemy seagulls that the parent previously warded off… Sad to think that but I just read one of the comments that states it does happen.

 

[KC Foggin]

Wow. I came here because I’ve been watching a male seagull feed and protect a youngster in an urban setting. One latenight a seagull flew in and made one vocal call. The baby seagull started whistling repeatedly and went over to the seagull. The seagull didn’t give him any food and led him into the parking garage. Which was odd. I couldn’t see where they went and I didn’t want to disturb them…but heard the baby seagull whistling for about 5-10 minutes and then heard nothing. Moments later I saw the adult seagull fly into the second floor of the garage which is also unusual for these. Because I’ve been watching them. I checked the parking garage to see if the baby was around and maybe had relocated but didn’t see him. No one has seen him for three days now. And now I’m starting to think that the seagull who I thought was helping the baby seagull actually wasn’t the parent but one of the enemy seagulls that the parent previously warded off… Sad to think that but I just read one of the comments that states it does happen.

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[MikeInPA]

Ive been watching two herring gulls raise three chicks right through this summer. The chicks are now a fair size but havent left the nest. As i was just watching them, three other gulls tried swooping down on the nest with one of the parents protecting the chicks for dear life. Ive never seen this before. Id hate for something to happen to them now. Surely they were just after food which had been dropped or something??

Absolutely they will. A visit to Minsmere in May 2019 really put me off what was once a favorite reserve of mine. Compared to visits in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s the Black-headed Gulls have increased to ridiculous levels. Where at one time you would see flocks of feeding Avocets now there’s very few. While viewing the scrape from one of the hides an Avocet chick wandered too close to a Black-headed Gull which pecked it to death. I witnessed exactly the same thing further round with a Black-headed Gull chick.

 

[TerandBill]

Where I live there were two fledglings and it was basically their first time having a fly about, and the one adult gull that live's down the road spotted the one and attacked it, but I managed to scare the adult from it and then this fledgling made its way across the roof to join its sibling, and all of a sudden there was chaos and then nothing at all and these two little one's have not been seen since, why on earth would the adults do this to their own kind??? More so the adult concerned lost its chick not long ago, is this pay back??? It is so heart breaking.

 

[Leonard Leuw]

We have an open field where we stay. Today there were two fairly new chicks and a whole "fleet" of gulls dive-bombed and then harassed them on the ground, surrounding them and chasing them. The "parents" kept defending their chicks. Then later on couldn't see the chicks and a whole flock of birds were all in a sort of semi circle silently standing, no noise, no flying - as if in mourning or in respect or something else? What is happening here?

 

[Non-expert IOM]

Wow. I came here because I’ve been watching a male seagull feed and protect a youngster in an urban setting. One latenight a seagull flew in and made one vocal call. The baby seagull started whistling repeatedly and went over to the seagull. The seagull didn’t give him any food and led him into the parking garage. Which was odd. I couldn’t see where they went and I didn’t want to disturb them…but heard the baby seagull whistling for about 5-10 minutes and then heard nothing. Moments later I saw the adult seagull fly into the second floor of the garage which is also unusual for these. Because I’ve been watching them. I checked the parking garage to see if the baby was around and maybe had relocated but didn’t see him. No one has seen him for three days now. And now I’m starting to think that the seagull who I thought was helping the baby seagull actually wasn’t the parent but one of the enemy seagulls that the parent previously warded off… Sad to think that but I just read one of the comments that states it does happen.

A tiny herring gull fell from the nest onto a flat roof below my attic window. Overnight and the next day, two adults seemed to be keeping an eye on it (presumably parents) kept it warm and brought it food. Later in the day, one of them dragged it to a puddle of water and killed it by hammering it with its beak, alternating with picking it up and shaking it. After about 10 minutes, the other arrived and they both ate it. I managed to film some of both the caring and the cruelty on my phone. I wonder what caused the change.