Seagull species in serious decline, say experts (August 2024)

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

I did wonder whether I should post this topic under 'the lighter side' or 'Plymouth & Cornwall'. 

It's an only very vaguely related railway issue but, from this BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news item, it does seem to focus on Cornwall:

Some species of gull have seen 75% drops in their populations in 55 years

They are the sound of our seaside, and can often be seen stealing a pasty, a sandwich or some chips.

Seagulls. But, love them or loathe them, they are in decline, according to wildlife experts.

While the birds may appear to be thriving, they are on the red list - the highest level - for British bird species of concern, because their population has dropped by 72% in 55 years.

Marine conservation officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Rebecca Allen, said it was not just in Devon and Cornwall that pairs had decreased.

"The population has declined around Great Britain. It's nearly three-quarters decline, since 1969, so that’s quite serious," she said. "It was about 200,000 breeding pairs... so that brings it down to about 50,000 breeding pairs."
......


Wildlife supporters say gulls - even the cheeky ones, like this one sitting where maybe it should not - are an integral part of the seaside

The article continues - but I have one comment, and one question:

Does anyone else think that it's absolutely brilliant that one of the BBC journalists working on this news item is Andrew Segal?

Looking at the first picture in their item: where is that?  The seagull has rather effectively got in the way of the wider view: I initially thought it might be Polperro, but I then discounted that.  I'll bet it's somewhere in Cornwall, though.

CfN. 

[Timmer]

In decline…really??

Come to Bath or most other towns and cities and you’ll find the ******s are thriving. In the part of Bath where I work the gulls have had a very successful breeding season…again! The council have given up and do nothing. What makes it worse is that people actually feed them!!! Trust me, they are more than capable of feeding themselves.

If I had my way I’d class them as vermin. Wretched birds.

[GBM]

In decline…really??

Come to Bath or most other towns and cities and you’ll find the ******s are thriving. In the part of Bath where I work the gulls have had a very successful breeding season…again! The council have given up and do nothing. What makes it worse is that people actually feed them!!! Trust me, they are more than capable of feeding themselves.

If I had my way I’d class them as vermin. Wretched birds.

Totally with you Timmer

[CyclingSid]

In decline…really??

Come to Bath or most other towns and cities and you’ll find the ******s are thriving. In the part of Bath where I work the gulls have had a very successful breeding season…again! The council have given up and do nothing. What makes it worse is that people actually feed them!!! Trust me, they are more than capable of feeding themselves.

If I had my way I’d class them as vermin. Wretched birds.

Totally with you Timmer

Same for Reading. Maybe they mean they have just decreased at the seaside, whereas they have increased inland. Apparently there is also a "shortage" of pigeons, pull the other one. Again people insist on feeding them, just rats with wings, or rats with PR^▸ (Public Relations) (take your pick).

[eightonedee]

No, it's absolutely correct.

It follows a substantial increase in the 20th century,  attributed to two factors, the increase in the discarding of fish and fish waste by the fishing industry and the growth of open landfill sites. Both these went into reverse later in the century as fish stocks declined and fishing regulations changed, and as open landfill sites were closed with the growth of recycling.

The problems in coastal areas, and possibly persecution in coastal areas, combined with the species in question discovering that modern flat-roofed buildings provide excellent safe nesting sites, saw them spread across inland Britain in the latter part of the century and early part of this.

There are a number of species of gull. The commonest involved with problems at seaside resorts and urban sites is Herring Gull (the one usually referred to as "seagull"). The similarly sized Lesser Black-backed Gull has shown similar trends, but with an material change in its behaviour in winter.  Most wintered in the Atlantic off North Africa in the early 20th century, but gradually switched to wintering in the British Isles,  and often inland.  They are now the commonest of the larger gulls in our (Thames Valley) part of the world.

For completeness, the other common gull is the much smaller Black-headed Gull, a much less aggressive bird, and as much an upland and wetland species as a seabird.  It has also undergone an expansion, change and decline in numbers for similar reasons.

So please show some understanding for the plight of the "seagull ", it's a much less destructive lifeform than homo sapiens!

[broadgage]

Broadgage recipe for cooking seagull.

"Remove feathers and use these to stuff a pillow for someone that you don't much like. Remove guts and feed to other seagulls. Place carcass in a large pot and weight with a stone. Boil until stone is tender, throw gull away."

More seriously, my Ukrainian neighbours observed the size and stupidity of seagulls and remarked that there must be loads of meat on such birds. Having killed and cooked one, they now know why we don't eat them !
Even in the last war, when food was short seagulls were almost never eaten. A few people killed them to feed cats and dogs.

[Witham Bobby]

They're all here.  Thriving in Worcestershire

Significant problem in Worcester city centre, and I don't suppose Worcester is unique

[broadgage]

In decline…really??

Come to Bath or most other towns and cities and you’ll find the ******s are thriving. In the part of Bath where I work the gulls have had a very successful breeding season…again! The council have given up and do nothing. What makes it worse is that people actually feed them!!! Trust me, they are more than capable of feeding themselves.

If I had my way I’d class them as vermin. Wretched birds.

In the case of the common types of gull that infest Minehead and many other places, then I agree entirely. Wretched birds.
I think that some types of gull might actually be in serious decline.

[froome]

The herring gull has, like many other species, learnt how to exploit the dominance of the planet by ourselves, and has become very good at living with humans and essentially getting everything they need from us.

Here in Bath I was recently harassed by a herring gull, and it was an extremely unpleasant experience. I was walking down a residential street in a new development area, where I know there have been issues raised about the presence of gulls, and suddenly heard one just behind me. It was very loud and flew up immediately in front of me, turned round about 20 feet up, and dived down flying just over my head. It looked very large and looked like it could easily hit me and do some damage, but just missed me. All in all it did this pattern at least 6 times, while I continued walking along, but becoming increasingly concerned. All the time it was making a hell of a din, and making it very clear that it did not want me around. Presumably it was nesting nearby, but if that was a rooftop, it was quite a distance from me. Eventually, when I had nearly reached the end of the road, it flew off.

I still remember sitting on Dartmouth seafront quite a few years ago, and eating a sandwich. Just as I was taking my first bite, a gull flew past and whipped the whole sandwich literally from out of my mouth. I was astounded, as was everyone else sitting there.

[Western Pathfinder]

I am told that in days gone by Alka Seltzer used to be a great method of dealing with unwanted gull attention.....

[broadgage]

I am told that in days gone by Alka Seltzer used to be a great method of dealing with unwanted gull attention.....

Or calcium carbide ! both are rather cruel though and should not be encouraged. Simply shoot the pests, which should minimise suffering.

[johnneyw]

Mid  2010s I had my ice  cream pecked out  of it's cone by a gull as I walked by the harbour side.  I would have replaced it but it was in Salcombe and there wasn't a mortgage advisor handy!

[Chris from Nailsea]

Looking at the first picture in their item: where is that?  The seagull has rather effectively got in the way of the wider view: I initially thought it might be Polperro, but I then discounted that.  I'll bet it's somewhere in Cornwall, though.

No, that's definitely not Salcombe. 

[johnneyw]

Looking at the first picture in their item: where is that?  The seagull has rather effectively got in the way of the wider view: I initially thought it might be Polperro, but I then discounted that.  I'll bet it's somewhere in Cornwall, though.

No, that's definitely not Salcombe. 


I would have thought a gull that gigantic walking down the road would have received more news coverage.

[broadgage]

A seagull of that size could probably kill and eat a cat or dog, or even a small child. Shoot on sight. And would probably need something more lethal than a shotgun, an anti-tank rocket perhaps.