Invasion of the gulls
Aggressive interlopers put pressure on ducks in St Stephen’s Green
THERE is a rough new element in St Stephen’s Green – and the locals are crying fowl.
Urban gulls are moving in in large numbers – and are threatening to edge the ducks out.
The ducks have always been a dominant feature of the park. But bird experts say that seagull numbers in the Green have increased significantly – and the gullible ducks are being gulled out of their breadcrumbs.
Some blame changes in fishing practices for driving the gulls inland from their normal coastal feeding areas.
Stephen Newton, senior seabird conservation officer at BirdWatch Ireland, said he had noticed more gulls in the green recently.
‘And they are bigger than before. The urban gull is doing much better than the Howth or Dún Laoghaire gull – whose numbers are falling,’ he said.
‘Natural availability of food is going down in the seaside areas because of over-fishing and more recreation.
‘Fishermen don’t dump their quota supplements in the sea any
‘A Georgian house in D2 is like a sea cliff to them’
more, meaning there are less easy meals for the gulls at sea.’ He added: ‘They are nesting on roofs in the city centre: a nice Georgian building in D2 looks much like a sea cliff in Howth, they’re just as comfortable.’
Although Mr Newton doesn’t believe the gulls will push the ducks out of the Green, he said they were pushing the ducks away in the fight for breadcrumbs.
He also said the gulls could eat their rivals’ young in the hunt for a convenient meal: ‘It’s hatching time for the baby ducks and it could be possible the gulls would snatch these ducklings,’ he said.
However, any effort to reduce gull numbers in Stephen’s Green could face serious obstacles, as the overall number of the birds nationwide has actually fallen.
A spokesman for the Office of Public Works said: ‘The blackheaded gull and the herring gull have seen a large-scale decline in numbers. As these gulls are on the red conservation list, very little can be done to control their numbers.’
When the Irish Mail on Sunday went to investigate, we found just 19 ducks in St Stephen’s Green – and they appeared to have ceded most of the duckpond to 60 or so gulls, who were being fed by visitors to the park.
Biologist and broadcaster Éanna Ní Lamhna urged the public not to feed the gulls or they would continue to drive ducks out.
‘We are all on the ducks’ side, aren’t we? We all love the ducks in the Green – so people need to stop feeding the gulls if they don’t want them in the park,’ she said.
Trevor White, director of The Little Museum of Dublin, which overlooks St Stephen’s Green, also expressed his concern about the ducks’ predicament.
‘We love the Green, it is the very centre of the city and feeding the ducks there is a great tradition and something we wouldn’t want to lose,’ he said.
Despite the increase in the park’s gull population, it cannot be said that their presence will wipe out the ducks – they will just have to compete with their rivals.
Eric Dempsey, founder of the Birds of Ireland News Service, said: ‘Although it is clear the number of gulls in the city centre has risen, there is no correlation between that and a decline in ducks… that would be like adding two and two and getting 22,000.’