Herring gull

“ The adult Herring Gull in full plumage has pure white underparts, head and tail, but a gray mantle, as it is termed, is spread over the wings. Young birds, however, show many shades of brown, and 38attain the white only after a year or two. The small, elegantly built birds, known along the seacoast as Mackerel Gulls, are not strictly gulls, but terns. They may be known by their forked tails and by their black caps. It is they that hover screaming over the water, constantly darting down to strike at fish. ”

“ Three eggs are usually laid, which vary from bluish-white to a deep yellowish brown, spotted and blotched with brown of different shades. In many cases where the Herring Gull has suffered persecution, it has been known to depart from its usual habit of nesting on the open seashore.
It is a pleasure to watch a flock of Gulls riding buoyantly upon the water. They do not dive, as many suppose, but only immerse the head and neck. They are omnivorous and greedy eaters ”

“ The common gull has no breeding-place south of the Border. In Scotland and its islands there are several colonies, and in Ireland a few. In its habits it is intermediate between the marine and inland species, and its gulleries are placed both on islands near the sea-coast and in lochs at a distance from the shore. Like the herring-gull and black-headed gull, it follows the plough to pick up worms and grubs, and roams over moors, marshes, and pasture-lands in search of insects, small vertebrates, and carrion. The nest is bulky, and composed of seaweed, herbage, and dry grass. ”

“ Both species have increased during the last 50 years. Since they breed in the same habitat, usually mixed together, the eider is probably dependent on herring gulls for protection against predators. When the ducklings are fledged, the herring gull acts as a successful predator itself, but the eider nevertheless maintains a close association with herring gulls.
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More than 90% of the herring gull population breeds on small islands, and a large proportion occurs in a few large colonies. ”

“ Harlequin ducks live in large parts of Siberia, from arctic Alaska to central California and Colorado, and also in the eastern Arctic. They do not seem to me to be in immediate danger globally, though perhaps they are locally.
Gulls are a highly successful group of seabirds, and of the eight species on our coasts the four more southern ones—the western gull (Larus occidentalis) , glaucous-winged gull (L. glaucescens) , common gull (L. canus) , and herring gull (L. argentatus) —are expanding wherever civilization creates new scavenging opportunities. ”

“ The Herring Gull has a greater range of migration along our coast and in the interior than any other American species. I have found it on our great lakes, and on the Ohio, Missouri and Mississippi, down to the Gulf of Mexico, during the autumnal months, and in winter along the shores of the latter, and all our eastern coasts. It may be said to be resident in the United States, as it breeds from off Boston to Eastport in Maine; but the greater number go farther north. We found the nests of some on the bare rocks of the Seal Islands off Labrador, but not on the coast itself. ”

“ There are a number of birds which are valuable friends to all the people because they are scavengers. The Herring Gull, which is the commonest gull of the harbors of the United States, and which is also found on inland lakes and rivers, by feeding upon all kinds of refuse animal and plant materials makes the waters about our cities more healthful. ”

“ Pray heaven, then, I don't see another puffin with a big fish!—for it may be held differently.
I have now seen, more in extenso, another young kittiwake killed by a herring-gull. Herring-gulls are much more numerous here than even the lesser black-backed, which is the reason, I suppose, why they seem to stand out in this character. I do not mean to brand them specially, or, indeed, at all. (Why cannot it be recognised that to blame any one, for anything, is to blame the Deity?) It is gull nature, and that is not the worst kind, after all. ”

“ The black-headed gull entirely loses the black colour on the head during winter. Sometimes the breast of the bird is of a lovely rosy pink colour, which fades after death.
Common, or Winter Gull (Larus canus) .—The common gull is not nearly so common in Gairloch as the black-headed gull. It has several nesting-places on small islands in fresh-water lochs, and it sometimes lays its eggs on the neighbouring mainland.
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) .—A few pairs of herring gulls nest along with the lesser black-backed gulls on the islands of Loch Maree. ”

“ Herring-Gulls used to breed on the headland there, but the part of the cliff they bred on has since been quarried away. I have only very occasionally seen the Lesser Black-backed Gull in Lleyn in May and June. ”

“ Not exactly—both the birds you see belong to the Swimmers. The larger ones are Herring Gulls, and the smaller ones are Terns. But your guess is not a bad one, for all Terns are also called Sea Swallows, because of their dashing flight. Both Gulls and Terns nest on Gull Island, where Olaf is going to take us some day when the water is smooth. The storm has driven some of them into the bay, where they do not usually come until later in the year; but in winter great flocks of Gulls live about our beach, clamming on the bar at every low tide. ”

“ The Herring Gull and the Lesser Black-back, though very distinct in their adult plumage, and even before they fully arrive at maturity, as soon as they begin to show the different colour of the mantle, which they do in their second autumn, when a few of either the dark or the pale grey feathers appear amongst the brownish ones of the young bird, are before this change begins very much alike. ”

“ The Herring Gull was called previously 'large white Gull.' I wish to draw special attention to the great number of 'Crows' which passed over this island from the 5th to the 25th Nov. They were flying at a height of seven or eight hundred feet. When passing this island their flight would become irregular. ”

“ Scarcity of suitable cliffs is the principal reason of the ledges being so closely packed with Guillemots, just as it accounts for this part of the precipice being crowded with Kittiwake Gulls, that part with Herring-Gulls, and that part again with Razorbills and Puffins. Yet each individual preserves its few square feet of rock or soil from molestation, and the area each one occupies varies according to the conditions of existence of the species. Thus the Herring-Gull occupies a comparatively small area, although one many times larger than that of the Guillemot. ”

“ Between Penmon Point and Redwharf Bay the limestone cliffs rise to a considerable height, affording nesting ledges, in places, for many rock-haunting birds. At one spot there was a small colony of Guillemots and Razorbills, the species being in almost equal numbers; in another place a few Razorbills were breeding in horizontal fissures, but we failed to detect any Guillemots there. The Herring-Gull was the dominant Gull in this district; mature and immature birds were common in the Straits, where the only other member of the family that we observed was the Black-headed Gull. ”

“ The commonest Gulls on the coast are the Lesser Black-backed and the Herring Gull, mixed flights of both following in the wake of the steamer almost continuously on the chance of picking up any scraps thrown overboard. Other Gulls were the Great Black-backed, the Common, and the Kittiwake; the latter, north of the Arctic Circle, being the predominant species and increasing in numbers the farther we go north. ”

“ Besides these land birds there are a multitude of sea birds more conspicuous on account of noise and numbers than bright coloring or attractive ways. The herring gull is very plentiful on this coast, wherever sand flats and shallow water offer attractive feeding grounds. ”

“ It was a Glaucous gull—the famous Burgomaster of the Arctic Sea, probably a female in immature plumage. In a few moments other gulls dropped down to get a bite—three herring and one black-backed gull with some smaller gulls—but they were not allowed to taste the fish. When one attempted to come near it the white gull looked fixedly at him a couple of moments, then drawing in its head suddenly tipped its beak upwards—an expressive gull gesture corresponding to the snarl of a dog when he is feeding and other dogs approach him. It produced a marked effect on the other gulls ”

“ Knowing that danger and death face them if they once come under the dominion of the wind, they use all the strength and tactics they are capable of to combat the elements. A young Herring Gull, a Petrel, or a Tern thus surprised will beat up against the wind with powerful flight. It will rise high in the air, facing the gale, and making a little progress forward as well as upward. Then it will suddenly descend with rapid flight toward one side of the storm-swept path, but falling off at the same time in the direction of the blowing wind. ”

“ It nests in colonies, usually on the ledges of precipitous cliffs, although small low islets are occasionally resorted to. The nest is composed of grass, seaweed, and other vegetable débris, and the eggs, three in number, are greenish brown with brown and grey markings, but they are not infrequently of a uniform pale blue. Incubation is undertaken by both sexes. The young as a rule remain in or near the nest till fully fledged, but when the nest is low down near the shore they leave it much sooner. The Herring Gull is practically omnivorous ”

“ The Gull Family—Changes of Plumage—Characteristics—Great Black-backed Gull—Lesser Black-backed Gull—Herring Gull—Common Gull—Kittiwake—Black-headed Gull—Skuas—Great Skua—Richardson’s Skua—Terns—Sandwich Tern—Common Tern—Arctic Tern—Roseate Tern—Lesser Tern—Black Tern.
Amongst the many natural objects that confront the visitor to the sea, there are none more readily detected than birds. The wide waters of the ocean and its varied coast-line of cliff or sand, shingle or mud-flat, are the haunts of many birds of specialised type. Many of these birds are only found on or near the sea ”

“ September, two records of flock of Terns, and Kittiwakes. Oct. 16th and 17th, ditto, ditto. November, on three dates Boatswain Birds and Kittiwakes. At Stoir Head vast flocks of Common Gulls and Herring Gulls passed N. Herrings "set into" Lochs Coul and Dhu, a little to the north of this, about this time, December, 1884, which locally accounts for this rush. Most of the Common Gulls were young. At Rhinns of Islay two "one-year-old Iceland Gulls" with hundreds of other Gulls flying about. We are particular in recording Gull returns, as this was an extraordinary Gull year on the East Coast. ”

“ It is not a peaceful gathering, and when one red bill has seized an ascending treasure the corvine calls of annoyance from other black-heads suggest a rookery rather than a congregation of gulls. Some of the herring-gulls are smarter than their smaller companions, and by clumsy dives succeed in securing the still submerged scraps. Black-heads will remain fighting for these uncertain bits of refuse when piles of tempting offal lie on the beach, awaiting the next cleansing tide, but common and herring gulls wait on the fishermen and follow the auctioneer from pile to pile of fish. ”

“ At Brixham, Beer, and other fishing ports and villages the gulls are never short of food when the boats can go out; they stand waiting when the trawls are cleaned, and are especially attentive when gutting is in process. The Devon and Cornish fishermen recognise that gulls are useful indicators of fish shoals; they give them passive protection, or, at any rate, do not show annoyance when one, bolder than the rest, filches a small fish from a pile upon the beach, and will often throw an attractive piece of gut towards the envious herring-gulls. ”

“ From its forked tail and mottled rufous plumage, I was able clearly to identify it as Milvus ictinus, the same species who used to perform the office of scavenger in London in the Middle Ages. The Gulls were for the most part in immature plumage. The vast majority of the adult birds were Lesser Blackbacked Gulls. Next in numbers came Herring-Gulls, which, I think, were all of the yellow-legged species—the Larus cachinnans of Pallas. In Vigo Bay, on the Spanish coast north of Lisbon, I was able clearly to see the brilliant yellow legs and rather darker mantles of these birds. ”

“ But many of them are very difficult to distinguish, for their summer plumage may be quite unlike that with which they are clothed during the winter, while the young birds are not marked like their parents till they are two or even three years old. Those which are most common on the Atlantic coast are two or three kinds of herring-gulls, which formerly bred in great numbers on all our sandy shores and islets, but now have been driven to quieter regions in the far north. ”

“ Sandpipers, sanderlings, all the ripple runners, the skimmers of the receding foam, all the scavengers of the tide, the gulls, glaucous-winged, ringbilled, and the species that take their name from the locality, may be found here following the plough as robins do in the spring. When the herring school in the bay nothing could exceed the multitude and clamour of the herring gulls. They stretch out in close [70] order, wing beating against wing, actually over square miles of the ruffling water between Point Pinos and the anchorage. ”

“ There were black-headed gulls in the Humber, and some with common gulls following the plough; there were a few herring-gulls about, but the numbers of these species which were passing was trifling compared with the darker mantled brethren. Occasionally some of the larger gulls went out seaward to seek a shoal of fish, but as a rule all day and every day the stream steadily flowed south. How many thousands passed each day? Some travelled in irregular order, some in well-fanned chevrons, or in long lines, those to the rear benefiting by the air disturbance of the advance wings. ”