In this airt we are particularly familiar with common gulls, black-headed gulls and
lesser black-backed gulls. Nearer to the coast or indeed the Firth of Forth, herring gulls join in the clamour for gulls are never silent!
For example, Thick-billed Murre Uria lomvia populations are increasing in Canada (Gaston et al., 2012) but declining in Greenland (Merkel et al., 2014), while
Lesser Black-backed Gulls are increasing in Greenland (Boertmann, 2008) and Ivory Gulls Pagophila eburnea have declined in both Canada (Gilchrist et al., 2008) and Greenland (Gilg et al., 2009).
Here, we report the results of an experiment based on this technique and designed to investigate the trade-off between egg quality and egg number in the
Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus.
The toll also includes puffins, razorbills, gannets, great skuas and
lesser black-backed gulls.
The
lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus) became a frequent visitor in Greenland in the mid-1980s.
It is also home to a host of other seabirds, like storm petrel, guillemot, puffin and
lesser black-backed gull. Important land birds include chough, short-eared owl, peregrine, curlew and lapwing, and Skomer is also notable for its lichens andthe unique Skomer vole.
The colonisation of our towns and cities began in the 1940s, when herring and
lesser black-backed gulls, the latter being the culprits in my particular area, began moving in.
LEADER funding also meant thousands of people got to participate in a Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park project, learning about different birds and taggingand-tracking
Lesser Black-backed Gulls as they migrated to Europe and Africa.
Numbers of herring gulls and
lesser black-backed gulls have grown in Aberdeen - and while some see them as part of the city's fabric, others regard them as a nuisance.
The last UK-wide seabird survey showed big declines in populations of Herring and
Lesser Black-backed Gulls, but it acknowledged that counts could have been under-represented because surveying in urban areas is difficult.
Environmental works will also be carried out to improve habitats for
Lesser Black-Backed Gulls and to provide more activities for visitors on the island which is around 6km from Lavernock Point in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Dr Stefan Bodnar, a West Midlands-based ornithologist, said: "We believe the first pair of
lesser black-backed gulls settled in Birmingham in 1984 - now there are around 1,600 pairs." He said adult birds look to feast on waste food - a key factor in their migration from seaside to cities.