Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) |
So what did I find out about these birds:
- They are a red status bird as they have had a fifty percent population decline in the last thirty years.
- There are around 140,000 breeding pairs in the UK and they live mainly on the coast but come inland especially during the winter.
Juvenile Herring Gull |
- Quite a large bird they are 60cm long and have a wingspan of 144cm. Males weigh around 1kg and females around 950g.
- I found two collective nouns for gulls, the first was a colony. The second I like more, you can get a screech of gulls.
- Whilst they can drink seawater they prefer freshwater. If they do drink seawater they have special glands above their eyes which pass the salt out stopping them from dehydrating.
- They are omnivorous scavengers though they prefer animal based food. They are resourceful and are happy on the sea shore, on a rubbish tip or on a lawn - see the video below.
- The gull is doing a rain dance making the worms think it is raining so they come to the surface to avoid drowning only to become gull food!
- Tourists beware, they will eat chips and ice cream and I've seen them nick chips off people that weren't paying attention!
- They live quite a long time. A typical life span is 12 years but they have been recorded to live over 30 years!
- Parents protect nests and their young by dive bombing anyone or anything that gets too close,
So I hope you liked finding out about these birds as much as I did, I really liked seeing them dance. If you want to find out more try these sites:
Hope you enjoyed,
Z.
I always like watching herring gulls dancing, thanks for sharing the video
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