 Gall Darn Gulls Some people don’t have much respect for Gulls. They call Gulls web-footed garbage cans and a few other things I shouldn’t mention. Granted, many members of the Gull family are capable of consuming anything that fits in their mouth - and sometimes it doesn’t even have to fit. For example, some marine Gulls pick up a star fish and swallow just one of the starfish’s arms. The Gull will leave the rest of the hapless starfish splayed across its face like a four fingered glove. The Gulls’ strong digestive stomach juices eventually eat the arm of the starfish and slowly the bird consumes a portion of its large meal one leg at a time. Yikes, perhaps Gulls have earned some of their less than flattering names. But I wasn’t planning on going on about Gull eating habits; instead I’ll chat about various species of Gulls found in the Cariboo. One day as I stood and watched a flock of twenty-four Gulls by the tarmac at 100 Mile House airport, I ruminated on a question that some people have asked; Why are there seagulls around here when we don’t live near the sea? The question involved more depth than it first appeared. First, as far as I know, members of the Larid (Gull) clan are called “Gulls,” not “Seagulls.” Second, oceans or salty water is not a general requirement for a Gull, but some species certainly won’t leave the coastal areas. So the essence of the question remains, “What are the Gulls doing here?” It is a good one and one I’ve often asked myself. To find out what the Gulls are doing, you first need to identify the species in order to trace their movements. There are three common Gull species in 100 Mile House. The most plentiful and easiest Gull to identify is the Ring-billed Gull. The other two species are Herring Gulls, and California Gulls (often seen in small numbers at the town dump.) The airport flock I scrutinized contained almost two dozen Ring-billed Gulls and three Herring Gulls. Mixed in with the adult birds were a number of yearling Ring-billed Gulls and one junior Herring Gull. An intermediate plumage can sometimes be quite a struggle when attempting to nail down a positive identity and this was no exception. The Ring-billed Gull (as the name implies) has a dark band around the upper and lower mandible of the bill. It also has yellowish legs. Leg colour is very important when identifying gulls. When I first came to 100 Mile there was no Ring-billed gulls around, now they are a summer staple. The Herring Gull is a big bird. It has a strong yellow beak with a dab of red on the lower mandible. The California Gull is about the same size as a Herring Gull and looks very similar. Its lower mandible also has dab of red. However, it also has a smaller black dab on top of the red dab. Ok, now we’ve identified our Gulls we still need to know what they are doing. The short answer is looking for food; they certainly aren’t here to breed. In my reading I’ve found there are only two breeding areas in BC for Ring-billed and California Gulls. The breeding islands are located on Okanogan Lake, and on Fraser Lake, the latter having only recently evolved into a breeding island. So all the Ring-billed Gulls seen at 100 Mile House Marsh come from one of those two aforementioned lakes, or from somewhere on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. That’s amazing. The Herring Gull is perhaps slightly less amazing. It has been known to breed in a number of other areas in the province; for example, the Chilcotin’s Stum Lake. I’d be remiss in my Gull discussion if I didn’t mention a very impressive, dainty, black-headed Gull. This Gull is most often seen in spring, floating tern-like, in flocks on many lakes. I speak of the Bonaparte’s Gull. Often I will get a phone call saying that someone has sighted about a hundred Terns afloat at the marsh. I have actually gone to see for myself but if the person is phoning from the marsh I ask a few questions such as, does the black on the head come all the way to the neck. A white Tern, at least the species we get, has only a black cap. Usually we come to the conclusion that the flocks of dainty birds are Bonaparte’s Gulls, not Terns. Later in the year Bonaparte’s Gulls are not so easy to find. Unlike some other Gull species I’ve previously mentioned, no self-respecting Bonaparte’s Gull would set foot in a landfill site. Instead, they seek out the pristine blue lakes of the Cariboo and there, in some lakeside tree, build a nest. Next time you see Gulls in, around, and over town, try to remember they are not lost. You don’t need to point the Gulls towards the nearest ocean where they might get a nice fresh fish meal. Instead - except in the case of the Bonaparte’s Gull - point to the nearest landfill site. But don’t curse the Gulls for their unsavory sense of dining. Unlike us, Gulls don’t pack lunches or drop into restaurants when traveling. They must take their sustenance where they find it, whether a dropped sandwich, or broken garbage bag. And bear in mind that if you believe we are overrun by Gulls: there are never more Gulls than there is food to sustain the Gulls. So, if they live on garbage, there is obviously enough garbage on which to thrive and grow. To e-mail Tom CLICK HERE To look at previous column CLICK HERE |
