Seagulls in the Midwest?
J-bug
(well, they truly DO appear to be seagulls) around the huge mall/shopping
area that I pass each day on my way to and from work. I couldn't believe my
eyes when I first saw them. The area that I see them mostly congregate in
are obviously the restaurant areas.
I vacation every year on the beach in Florida, and being the typical
tourist (and bird lover), l love feeding these birds bread, crackers, etc.
(much to the residents' dismay, I know).
Can anyone explain how/why these birds have made their way to the chilly
weather of the Midwest? As I explained in a recent post tonight, the weather
here has been downright frigid, and I don't understand how these birds can
survive in this climate... but there they were again this morning, flying
over Taco Bell, Burger King and the like...
Any ideas?
Best,
Jbug
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tho...@my-dejanews.com
Gulls are actually common around most large bodies of water, in fact, it is a
misnomer to refer to them as 'sea' gulls! They are very common in the Great
Lakes area and along the Mississippi River. They may not be the same species
that you are familiar with from Florida.
James Powell
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Marcart
>Can anyone explain how/why these birds have made their way to the chilly
>weather of the Midwest? As I explained in a recent post tonight, the weather
>here has been downright frigid, and I don't understand how these birds can
>survive in this climate... but there they were again this morning, flying
>ov
They are Gulls, and they have always lived everywhere ,inland and along shores.
They are scavangers and love our land fills , which are disappearing, so they
look for our refuse where ever it will be easy to get to.You should see the
birding at the Manchester "Dump". It rivals the dumping! People from the UK
discuss the Gulls found there!!
Mary Carter
Connecticut
Wendy Liles
habitats (sadly, for the most part replaced now by shopping mall parking lots)
to inland marshes and lakes. My field guide says they winter in the Pacific from
Guatemala to Chile, but I have seen them here year round.
J-bug wrote:
> During the last year or so, I've spotted many seagull-type looking birds
> (well, they truly DO appear to be seagulls) around the huge mall/shopping
> area that I pass each day on my way to and from work. I couldn't believe my
> eyes when I first saw them. The area that I see them mostly congregate in
> are obviously the restaurant areas.
> I vacation every year on the beach in Florida, and being the typical
> tourist (and bird lover), l love feeding these birds bread, crackers, etc.
> (much to the residents' dismay, I know).
> Can anyone explain how/why these birds have made their way to the chilly
> weather of the Midwest? As I explained in a recent post tonight, the weather
> here has been downright frigid, and I don't understand how these birds can
> survive in this climate... but there they were again this morning, flying
J. Tyler
places that supply food, mostly (I suspect) from garbage. People also discard a
lot of edible items that attract these birds, and since people congregate in
shopping areas. . .
We had a Great Black-backed Gull at Cherry Creek Reservoir for over a month this
past summer; this gull is an East coast bird; you won't even find it in Stoke's
Western Region Field Guide, but there you go.
J.
JPDean
gulls can be found year round around large bodies of water and far inland. They
do tend to show up more frequently inland during the winter.
Gull in the frigid midwest may have moved south from the frigid, stormy Great
Lakes. Every fall gull flock to the national mall in Washington, along with
just about every shopping mall, trash dump aand water impoundment to excape
harsher weath at sea or along the coasts.
As scavangers, it is easy for them to find a meal at a McDonald's or Wendy's
parking lot. A number of species of gulls are increasing in population (easy
access to food is one reason). That is one reason why they are more evident
inland during the winter.
James Dean
Division of Birds
National Museum of Natural History
Washington, DC 20560-0116
Barbara Yoon
> During the last year or so, I've spotted many seagull-type looking
> eyes when I first saw them. ...how/why these birds have made
> their way to the chilly weather of the Midwest? ...the weather here
> has been downright frigid, and I don't understand how these birds
> can survive in this climate... but there they were again this morning,
> flying over Taco Bell, Burger King and the like...
Well, they likely made their way down from even more frigid Canada
-- and they might go back up that way again to breed in the spring,
quite possibly never getting anywhere near the "sea" their whole lives...
I really can't add much to all the other good responses you got here,
except to emphasize that gulls are very intelligent and resourceful and
adaptable in the "survival game," as you yourself are seeing...
