While walking along downtown San Diego’s Embarcadero with a birder friend, I learned something that surprised me enough to send me down an internet rabbit hole: there is no bird species officially called a “seagull.”
The birds I was casually calling seagulls are part of the broader gull species. While many gull species do live along coastlines, others reside around lakes, rivers, farmland and even inland cities hundreds of miles from the ocean. The nickname seagull just sticks because so many of us first encounter them at or near a beach.
San Diego Gulls. No, not the hockey team. Rather, I’d like to highlight the gull species that calls San Diego home. The most common species here include the Western Gull, California Gull, Ring-billed Gull, and Heermann’s Gull. Some live here year-round, while others migrate during different seasons.
If you’re able to observe them closely, you’ll notice differences in size, leg color, beak markings and how dark their backs appear. I rarely, however, get to watch one closely for more than a minute or two, but I’ve found the Merlin Bird ID app super useful for identification.
About the Merlin Bird ID App. This is a completely free app. It was developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, whose mission is to help people find the answer to “What’s that bird?”
Merlin is designed to be a birding coach for bird watchers at every level. While it offers a sound identification option, I primarily use its “Photo ID” feature. You simply snap a photo of a bird (or you can also pull one in from your camera roll), and Photo ID will offer a short list of possible matches.
“…gulls are opportunistic eaters but also remarkably intelligent.”
Not Just Scavengers and Thieves. Whenever my daughter sees a gull, she reminds me of the time a gull swooped and stole a hot dog out of her hand as soon as the vendor passed it to her. Similar to her thief association, I often think of gulls as scavengers. I’ve seen one too many picking at a disposable to-go container trying to get some of the leftover food and, in the process, making a huge mess on the sidewalk.
My birder friend told me gulls are opportunistic eaters but also remarkably intelligent. He says gulls have been documented dropping shellfish onto rocks to crack them open and can recognize certain humans (especially people they associate with food).
With my newfound knowledge, I now try to observe gulls more closely when we cross paths. If I’m lucky, I’ll have enough time to open my Merlin Bird ID app and identify which of the more than 50 gull species I’ve had the pleasure of seeing. SDSun
Award-winning columnist Deanna Ratnikova is the creator of The GO Deck – grab a deck today and be inspired to Get Outdoors and GO on new adventures.
