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Urban gulls

Since the 1970s, breeding gulls have become an increasingly common sight in urban areas in the UK, bringing them into close contact with people. The explosion in numbers is likely to be due to numerous reasons, including natural nesting sites becoming less attractive to gulls, whilst productivity and survival rates are higher in urban areas.

In an attempt to study the movements and behaviour of these birds, a colour-ringing programme began in 2013, marking Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls breeding in Falmouth. Each blue ring is coded W: followed by three numbers, allowing us to follow birds around the town. Chicks will be ringed at rooftop sites around the town and we will also be catching adults under licence in a portable cage trap.

Herring Gull rings are blue, coded W: followed by three numbers

7 comments:

  1. Linacreblogger10 August 2015 at 22:22

    Hi there. I saw 2 of your cr Herring Gulls in St Ives today (10th August 2015). They were W:185 and W:195, and both were alive and well, and stealing food from unwitting tourists like me! W:195 had a chick in tow

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    1. Graveyard Globetrotter28 June 2018 at 18:09

      W:185 alive and well and raising a chick on a roof in Victoria Place (28 June 2018)

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  2. Neil Veganhead9 February 2016 at 21:05

    I spotted W:100 a week ago, hanging around Custom House Quay near the shelter there. www.instagram.com/p/BBGAcA2gV03 Quite a friendly bird, and no squawking for food :)

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  3. Unknown6 August 2017 at 19:59

    W:100 was still around Custom House Quay on 30/7/17.

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    1. Mark Grantham7 August 2017 at 08:43

      Thanks for the report Catherine and it does seem to be a regular there. It was ringed there in October 2015 and hasn't been seen anywhere else since!

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  4. Unknown2 December 2017 at 13:00

    W195 still in St Ives today!

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  5. Unknown5 April 2018 at 21:06

    W:185 spotted in st Ives today :)

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