Why Do Landfills Attract Seagulls?

If you were asked to sit in a lawn chair, close your eyes and simply listen to the beautiful call of the
seagulls around you, you would swear you were sitting by the ocean, or at the very least, Lake Michigan. Upon opening your eyes, you realize your surroundings are different. Much different.

In reality, there are at least twenty-eight different known species of gulls that are commonly referred to as seagulls. Some find them to be soothing and remind them of being at the beach. Others think of gulls as scavengers that are found in noisy flocks that congregate wherever food is available and consider them to be a nuisance.

Gulls are very difficult to identify with a quick glance, and none of them are technically called seagulls.  Juvenile gulls generally take 3 to 4 years to achieve adult plumage. Some even have breeding and non-breeding plumage that changes throughout the seasons.

Gulls also tend to cross-breed with other types of gulls, making it even more difficult to identify their offspring since they form "hybrids that reflect the looks and characteristics of each of the parent birds."

Gulls were originally scavengers of waterways like lakes, rivers, and oceans. Today, they compete with pigeons and crows for a piece of the action in parking lots and city parks. They do provide a valuable service, however, by feeding on "dead animals and organic litter which could pose a health threat to humans." There is, however, a downside.

Gulls tend to feed, roost, and nest in groups. They are a gregarious bird that cannot perch but prefer a flat surface like a parking lot or a landfill. Gulls are able to swallow large chunks of food at a time. They digest the nutritive parts then regurgitate the non-digested waste elements. "Gulls feeding in landfills can drop thousands of pounds of bones on roosting sites" as they dispose of undigested parts of their food.

Once these birds are fed in a particular area, they will continue to come back year after year. If the food source is cut off, they will tend to migrate to another, more convenient, location. Landfills, unfortunately, continue to provide a food source for gulls until an alternative habitat and food source are provided as a substitute.

For more information on trash and waste removal visit www.wasteawaygroup.com.

birds-of-north-america.net
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