Seaside habitats are the natural homes for seagulls. Many people don’t like seagulls, but in fact they are only taking takeaway foods and dive-bombing due to over-fishing of our seas, and people dropping fast food litter. Seagulls naturally live on sandy shores and marshy wetlands, or near rocky cliffs.
Understanding Seaside Habitats
Seaside habitats include sandy beaches, coastal marshes, rocky shorelines, and estuaries. Each of these ecosystems plays a unique role, offering a range of resources that support diverse animal and plant life. Including seagulls.
- Coastal Marshes: These are wetlands located along shores, known for their rich plant life and ability to filter pollutants. They act as nurseries for fish and provide crucial foraging grounds for seagulls.
- Sandy Beaches: Stretching along the coastline, these areas are perfect for seagulls to nest. The sand provides a safe space for eggs and chicks, shielding them from predators.
- Rocky Shorelines: These areas are often home to various marine animals. Seagulls thrive here, finding food in tide pools and feeding on fish exposed at low tide.
Threats to Seaside Habitats
Rising sea levels and erratic weather patterns are two of the biggest threats to seaside habitats. Coastal erosion can wash away nesting sites, leaving seagulls vulnerable. During severe storms, habitats can be further compromised. This hinders the ability of seagulls to find food and successfully raise their chicks.
Pollution comes in many forms, from plastic waste to chemical runoff. Water pollution can devastate food sources for seagulls, making it harder for them to survive. Plastic waste not only harms marine life but can entangle and poison birds. Keeping our oceans clean is essential for the health of these habitats.
As populations grow, so does the pressure on seaside habitats. Coastal development reduces natural spaces, leading to a loss of nesting sites for seagulls. When we build hotels, homes, and infrastructure, we often encroach on vital ecosystems. This development disrupts the balance and can lead to a decline in seagull populations.
Conservation Efforts
Marine protected areas provide a safe haven for seagulls during breeding seasons, allowing populations to recover and thrive.
Government policies can have a profound effect on habitat preservation. Laws aimed at regulating coastal development, reducing pollution, and creating protected areas directly support conservation efforts. Advocacy for effective legislation can protect these habitats for generations to come.
How to Humanely Deter Seagulls
Seagulls are not ‘rats with wings’, but rather beautiful creatures (and excellent parents) who only steal chips because they have increasingly lost their natural homes and food (fish). They are one of the few creatures with special glands that they can safely drink seawater, and in nature would live entirely by the sea. This wildlife ambulance has info on helping seagulls.
For dive-bombing gulls, experts say the best solution is to encourage gulls to return to their natural home by the sea. Most birds that bomb you have eggs or hatchlings nearby, so give them space. If they do go for you (or your chips), wear a hat or use an umbrella.
Unless starving, don’t feed seagulls as it encourages them to come into contact with dogs, roads and people who don’t like them (report concerns to wildlife crime unit (can be anonymous).
You can buy gull-proof sacks for waste and recycling, that are tipped into refuse lorries and then left for you to refill. Made from strong plastic, they can’t be ripped apart by gulls, rats or foxes, to spew contents out onto pavements and parks early mornings.
PiCAS helps to humanely deter pigeons, gulls and doves, to deter unwanted visitors on roofs of houses, offices and hospitals. Their expertise methods are kind, cost less and work better than lethal control (illegal anyway for gulls). Humane Wildlife Solutions gull helpline can also help.
How to Help an Injured or Orphaned Gull
Look around first, as parents are usually close by and tend to leave growing gulls for up to a few hours to find food (they are always watching). You can’t disturb them or nests, so call wildlife rescue for help or place in a box with punctured air-holes and take to your nearest vet, who will put them to sleep if needed, or rehab until rescuers arrive. Help Wildlife has advice.
The Gull Next Door is a portrait of a misunderstood bird. These beautiful birds (who naturally live on fish) often come inland simply to lack of fish and fast food litter. The author grew up in an English seaside town and is a passionate advocate for these underappreciated birds, and looks at how we can protect them.
Also read Landfill, on how we should admire these intelligent birds and marvel at their ability to adapt, rather than see them as ice-cream stealers. Seagulls are scavengers but at a cost – many dead gulls being found with plastic, glass and cigarette butts in their stomachs.
The Old Town of Hastings sits between two steep hills. The one to the west is called West Hill and the one to the east is (unsurprisingly) called East Hill. We lived in a very tall thin house on the West side of the Old Town, which had a thriving herring gull population.
They built their homes on the roofs of ours, scruffy nests of dead grass stuffed between the chimney pots, and they commuted to the beach for their daily diet of stolen fish and scavenged chips.
By early summer there were fluffy grey chicks hatching from eggs, and soon these youngsters were out and about, pattering across the rooftops.
If you’re a Brit, the gull you’ll know best is the herring gull – the one that steals your chips and poops on your car when you visit the seaside.
Jolly Sea Shanties of our Shoreline Friends
Sea Bird is an informed yet cheeky perspective on the fascinating language of birds in marine areas. This witty twist on a traditional field guide is sure to educate and amuse at the same time.
Pairing science with songs and stories, this (North American) book nonetheless has plenty to teach us, about one of the most common birds in England. Find fun facts about most types of sea birds and know where to spot them, from a boardwalk on the ocean to a lakeside bench to a boat. The 50 birds you’ll meet in this book include:
- The elegant (and enormous) Trumpeter Swan, gliding through remote ponds
- The Black Oystercatcher, picking at molluscs on rocky shores with his neon orange beak
- The Yellow-legged Heron, sneakily darting at small fish in marshes and swampsThe Pacific Loon, whose wailing cry echoes across Arctic tundra lakes
From rural farmlands to bustling city streets to the salty air of the shore, each portrait includes lovely images and lighthearted narrative to reflect the personality of each bird.
Angela Vinet is a freelance nature writer from Louisiana, USA. Co-author Janis Harris is a widow who after her husband’s passing, taught herself to drive and travelled through America in a campervan, observing birds.
