‘Bad gull image is just all squawk...’
ACTIVISTS’ CALL TO ‘STOP DEMONISING SEAGULLS’
THEY’RE Ireland’s most despised birds, often tagged the ‘rats of the sky’ or ‘winged thugs’.
But conservationists have urged people to stop demonising seagulls and learn to live with them.
The urban population of gulls has soared in recent years, with the birds forced to abandon their natural coastal habitats and migrate to towns and cities, due to a decline in fish stocks.
The herring gull, in particular, has come into conflict with people, with growing reports of their aggressive or nuisance behaviour increasingly prompting calls for a culling of the urban populations.
Blamed
However, scientists and conservation watchdogs have blamed the opportunistic birds’ antics on humans, and insist the solution is for people to change their behaviour towards them.”
Ornithologists also point to the fact that despite misconceptions of an explosion in their numbers, the herring gull — one of seven different breeding varieties of gull in Ireland — remains on the Amber list of threatened bird species in this country.
Over a 30-year period from 1970 their population had plummeted by 90 per cent, resulting in the species being placed on the critical ‘at risk’ Red list.
However, in recent years their numbers have increased once again, with growing urban populations partly compensating for their steep decline in the wild.
Niall Hatch, development officer at Birdwatch Ireland, said: “Herring gulls have a reputation for wreaking havoc and being aggressive, but they really don’t deserve it at all.
“It’s their breeding season now, and naturally if a person ventures too close to a nest, the birds are likely to squawk.
“But the fact is that attacks on humans by herring gulls are still extremely rare.
“The birds have been driven into urban areas to survive, and one of the biggest problems has been that people have started feeding them, and that has led to gulls increasingly losing their fear of people and associating people with food.
“They’re resourceful and smart birds, and they’ve had to adapt to living in cities, so they’re attracted to litter on the streets and overflowing bin bags.
Crucial
“So a couple of key solutions would be a better waste management system, and what is particularly crucial is for people to stop feeding them, because it’s bad for their diet and they don’t need it.”
Hatch also warned urban dwellers that they would be left with vermin infestations if gulls were to disappear from cities.
He added: “Herring gulls play a big role in controlling the rat population so there’s no doubt rodents would increase without them.”