August 20, 1961 - The Herring GullTHE HERRING GULL
Exclusive Sunday Review Sketch by Dennis Puleston of Brookhaven
Focus on Nature. re�. by Paul nburgh
Cutchoguchogu e
The most common and widely
distributed gull' of the Northern
Hemisphere is the Herring Gull
or more commonly called, t h e
Sea: Gull.
As the herring part of h i s
tame implies, he enjoys small
RA that swim near the surface
because he cannot dive and swim
underwater like a duck.
However, this does not phase
him, for being a pirate of the
high seas, he is constantly_on the
prowl for a free meal. Often he
will rob mergansers and other
diving ducks of food that they
bring, up from greater depths.
This is a, perfect example of
how one species utilizes the abili-
ty of another species to satisfy
its needs.
Have you ever noticed h o w
clever gulls are when they dig
clams or locate other mollusks
and` then fly twenty to thirty feet
up only to drop them to crack
open on the hard surface below?
If, so, then you have probably
noticed that the gull who lags
a little in descent arrives only
to- fihd his seafood dish grabbed
by another gull.
This dropping is so character-
istic of the gulls that here on
Long Island there are h a r d-
surfaced highways in a I m o s t
every town used for this purpose.
Seafood is not the only diet of
the gull. Oh no, just about any-
thing that is edible makes up
his menu. My first inkling of this
came many years ago when I'
was attending grade school. A
noon time ritual took place when
the janitor would take the gar-
bage to the incinerator a f t e r
our noon hour.
I am sure the gulls knew just
when to show up, for you would
never notice them during t h e
morning, but as soon as the first
boy opened the door a f t e r
lunch, the signal was heard and
the gulls began to flock in and
settle on the playground. Here
they would wait until the children
returned to class and the noble
janitor brought forth the piece
de resistance.
Their seavengering can be seen
everywhere; at the dump, the
seashore, the roadsides, anywhere
a free meal has been dropped.
On this single feat we m us t
admit the gull's usefulness to
man, for our seashores, r o a d-
ways, etc would surely become
cluttered without our scavengers.
The gull's ability to find a liv-
ing almost anywhere probably is
why he feels at home throughout
his wide range. He can be found
an the Great Lakes, on our west
coast from Alaska to I o w e r
California, from Greenland to
northern France, the Baltics, the
Mediterranean and Caspian Seas.
Here on our coast his range is-
from the Gulf of Mexico to the
Arctic.
This handsome bird now breeds
from the Arctic south along the
coast to Long Island and around
the larger lakes such as Lake
Champlain and the Great Lakes.
Here on Long Island the first
record of breeding was made in
1933 on Fishers Island by LeRoy
Wilcox. Today the gulls are found
literally by, the thousands along
the south shore. With this influx
of breeding, the problem of over-
population has risen and with it
the decline of other species.
There are many locations in
which terns and others at one
time flourished by the thousands
but because of the pressures
brought to bear by the g u 11,
they moved on. It is believed that
the mere presence of the gulls
distracts t h e s e over- sensitive
birds and without bodily harm
pushes them from their nesting
grounds.
While photographing the gull on
the islands near P o mq u o g u e
bridge, I saw the miracle of birth
performed right through my cam -,
era lens. These birds emerge
from the egg covered with down,
their eyes open and with the abili-
ty to move about as soon as the
down dries. It was amazing to
me to see how quickly they got
about after hatching.
This puts them in the class of
precocial birds, which is in con -
strast to birds such as the robin,
whose young hatch naked, blind
and helpless, and have to remain
in their nests for some time .
While observing this particular
clutch of gulls, I realized how
well the color of, both the egg
and young blended in with the
nesting area. This is more ap-
parent with the young as they
grow older and become a light
gray, sandy color that makes
them a masterpiece of camou-
flage.
I have walked through these
gull colonies and seen the young
scatter at my approach. or freeze
to the ground, their feathers
blending in perfectly with t h e
sand.
The young will often w a n d e r
from their nest only to find them-
selves harshly rebuffed by some
adult gull who is protecting his
own sacred nesting area. As I
have mentioned before, nesting
areas of all birds are jealously
guarded, and there is no sym-
pathy show for young intruders.
I am sure a description of the
herring. gull is not necessary here
for we are all familiar with him.
The only similar species would
be the smaller Ring- billed Gull
or the large Slack- backed Gull.
Their names imply their differ-
ence. The confusion comes- when
an immature gull is seen for
these have dusky brown feathers
which set them aside from the
trim, gray, white and black bird
we are familiar with.
Generally speaking Mr G u l l
does not rate too high when it
comes to scrgples but to offset
this trait when it comes to add-
ing a bit of color and charm to
our fields and seashores, few can
surpass him. It would be a sorry
shoreline indeed if we could not
hear the familiar scream or see
the beautiful sight of our graceful
Herring Gull.