Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls are the species most commonly seen in our region. And both species pose a deadly, serious threat to Piping Plovers.
The gulls eat both Plover eggs and chicks. It’s not just tiny hatchlings they go after. We have seen Great Black-backed Gulls swoop in and take out a 25 day-old nearly-adult bird.
Plover parents employ several strategies for trying to prevent this from happening. They often call to their mate to come help and both will try to avert the gull’s attention. A Plover may drag its wing on the ground, faking injury in hopes of luring the gull away, or it may dive bomb the gull, or latch onto its tail feathers, and all the while making an angry, loud rattling call. Usually, the parents are successful, but not always.
In the above sequence you can see both parents left the chicks unattended in order to distract the gull. This tag teaming is usually very effective and the Herring Gull left after a short time. Mom ran back to back to locate her babes, calling to the chicks to rejoin her, and soon the two chicks were thermo-snuggling beneath Mom’s protective wings.
Sometimes it takes a gull many minutes to lose interest and the chicks become increasingly vulnerable to predation. In our documentary, The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay, a Herring Gull swooped off with a chick. Despite the parents best attempts to save their offspring, the Gull mortally wounded both the adult male and the chick.
What is the Number 1 way you can help? – Please Don’t Litter
Prior to 1931, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls did not breed in Massachusetts and were not present year round. Their populations increased significantly during the 20th century because of the food resource available from landfills. They also prey on other birds and their eggs, and compete for nesting sites.
Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls are scavengers and thrive on the trash left behind on beaches. Never feed the gulls on the beach. Please do not leave behind garbage and please do not bury trash. Gulls will find the garbage, as will the Crows, which are another species that is equally as threatening to nesting shorebirds as are Herring and GBBGulls.