GALVESTON’S POSTER GULLS
They’re smart, savvy coastal birds (not seagulls)
Gulls dominate the bird scene on Galveston Island, whether on bays, beaches, fishing jetties, harbor piers or the Strand shopping district. Since we can’t ignore gulls, let’s learn more about them. February is a good time to stroll Galveston’s beaches and bayside shores to study them.
Despite their classification as seabirds, calling them by the colloquial term “seagulls” is incorrect. That’s because gulls are not pelagic birds, like the albatrosses and shearwaters that live on the open sea. Gulls live along seacoasts and near-shore waters, while a few live along inland waters.
Gulls are smart and handsome birds, and masters of their environs. They rarely lack food, whether it’s fish in Gulf waters or bays, food scraps gifted to them by peoplumage ple, waste food in garbage dumps, or fresh fish scraps stolen from a brown pelican.
The flight skill of gulls is astonishing. Watch them hover in midair, practically at arm’s length, waiting for you to toss them food scraps. Ride the Bolivar Ferry as it crosses from Galveston to Bolivar Peninsula and watch gulls fly alongside.
With only slight flutters of their wings, gulls maintain a flight speed that keeps up with the ferry. They’ll twist and turn in midair to snatch food scraps people throw to them and quickly regain flight at the speed of the ferry.
Identifying gulls by name is tricky because of varying plumages and because they gradually molt from juveniles to adults over three to four years. Stick with the most common and recognizable gulls currently at Galveston:
Laughing gulls: These are the most abundant species of gulls on Galveston Island. Their winter in February usually shows smudgy black earmuffs and dingy black crowns. By March, they’ll begin acquiring breeding plumage, with black hooded heads, red beaks, gray backs and gray wings tipped in black.
Ring-billed gulls: These birds migrate to Galveston for the winter. They’re about the size of laughing gulls but with white heads, pale gray backs and wings, and a namesake black ring around their yellow beaks. They’ll soon be heading back to northern breeding grounds, mostly around inland lakes.
Herring gull juveniles: They are big, bulky and mottled brown birds that spend winters on our coastline. Nearly twice the size of laughing gulls, you’ll see them standing along the shoreline.