Herring Gull

Although 130,000 pairs of Herring Gull were recorded in 2016, their UK conservation status is RED.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Larus argentatus
Family: 
Gulls
Family Latin name: 
LARIDAE
Category: 
Birds

Species description

Species description

These large, handsome gulls are much complained about for their noisy cries and bold scavenging, but they are birds under pressure on an urban coastline, where they are essential for the ecosystem.  They have flesh-coloured legs and feet, and a hooked yellow bill with a red spot near the tip.  They are resident breeders and Winter visitors.  Although 130,000 pairs were recorded in 2016, this is a serious decline, and their conservation status is RED.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)
Although 130,000 pairs of Herring Gull were recorded in 2016, their UK conservation status is RED.
This adult Herring Gull was caught by one of the cemetery's trail cameras on March 16th 2021.

Details

Species family information

The word 'gull' is from a Welsh word meaning 'wailing', and that is the familiar sound of our coastal ecosystems, to which the strong flying web-footed gulls are essential as predators and scavengers. Generally, gulls are ground nesters, but on the built-up south coast there are fewer and fewer sites that are undisturbed, and gull numbers are falling. It used to be said that gulls foraging inland was a sign of stormy weather at sea, but nowadays it is opportunistic feeding by birds under pressure on an increasingly urbanised coast. Gulls, with their mournful cries, were once thought to carry the souls of dead sailors, and as such were an unlucky omen.

Category information

The earliest feathered dinosaur fossils date from the early Cretaceous, but the ancestry of birds goes further back to Jurassic theropod dinosaurs, which shared a common ancestor with the crocodilians. Well known theropod groups include the tyrannosaurs, allosaurs, and other carnivores. Of surviving bird groups, the most ancient are the ratites (ostriches, rheas, tinamous, moas, kiwis, cassowaries, and emus), followed in evolutionary order by the waterfowl (ducks, geese and swans) and then the land fowl (chickens, turkeys, pheasants and their kin). Heene cemetery’s most ancient bird visitors are the woodpigeons. Strictly, therefore, we ought to refer to birds as dinosaurs, for they are direct descendants. The RSPB would be more accurately restyled as the RSPD. Where known, the conservation status of each bird is given as red, amber, or green, according to its survival potential based on 2016 populations and recent population trends.

Birds are warm-blooded, and have feathers, toothless, beaked jaws, and a strong, lightweight skeleton. They lay hard-shelled eggs. Their hearts have four chambers, and their metabolic rate is high. Although most are adapted for flight, many can also run, jump, swim and dive. Flightless birds retain vestigial wings. Brown, green, and grey are the commonest bird colours, for camouflage.

Protections

Legal protections and status
IUCN Birds of Conservation Concern: Red List
Natural Environment & Rural Communities Act 2006 Section 41
Sussex Notable Bird List
UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Species