Because seagulls nest in large colonies, they are also incredibly territorial in that they are protective of their homes. As a protection mechanism, many gull colonies use mobbing behavior, in which they attack and harass possible predators or intruders. Particularly during nesting and mating behaviors, the Gull can be very territorial. Many bird mates secure only a few meters worth of land by verbalizing their presence with specific calls or demonstrating it with a variety of displays. If other gulls decide to ignore such calls, the birds tend to become violent in their attempts to keep their area. Specific calls used by gulls are the “long call” as a threat, a “mew” used as a support call from a fellow mate, a “kek kek” is used when a colony as a whole is disturbed, a “yeow” is also used for the two previous functions. Specific postures are also used to communicate with other gulls. For examples of the previous calls and for posure examples, you can watch the movie attached!
But what happens when this protective territorial behavior is applied to an urban setting according to National Geographic News, urban Britain has really faced these problems. All across Britain there have been issues with swarming, attacking, and defecating on pedestrians. Even an 80-year-old Welshman suffered a fatal heart attack after being swooped by the gulls. Why exactly are these issues happening though? According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, it is because of the loss of cliff top breeding sites due to coastal development.
Hello Katie...interesting reading. We are in the UK and trying to stop two seagulls nesting on our roof. We keep clearing the nesting debris off of the roof. We are wondering how long before they give up trying to nest there. Is there a window of opportunity to mate, and if so, when can we stop worrying about them nesting?
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