Gangster Gulls | Uncovering the Truth About Seagulls

Seagulls have a bad reputation. But is it deserved?  

Join Ranger Rosie Holdsworth to meet the gulls in Poole Harbour known for their chip-stealing behaviour. Are these birds feathered thugs or smart survivors? We’ll discover the myths and surprising truths about one of Britain’s most controversial birds.                       
From their behaviours to their vital role in coastal ecosystems, uncover just what makes these ‘Gangster Gulls’ tick.  Plus, we take part in a citizen science survey that helps track how these much-maligned seabirds are surviving in a changing world.

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Production
Presenter: Rosie Holdsworth
Producer and sound designer: Nikki Ruck

Contributors
Mya Bambrick
Dr Viola Ross-Smith
Paul Morton
Emma Caulfield
Katy
Sophie

Discover more
Find out more about bird conservation in Poole harbourBirds of Poole Harbour

Take part in citizen science survey in your area BTO – British Trust for Ornithology

Follow us @wildtalesnt Instagram account 

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story idea, you can contact us at [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

GENERIC (00:36):
It happened so quickly. It swoops down and literally
takes the scoop of ice cream offthe top and just flies away with
ice cream in its mouth.
And I'm terrified.
All of a sudden, this hugescream went up and we turned
around and she just lookedabsolutely horrified and was

(00:56):
shouting, the seagull stole myice cream.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (01:10):
It's a familiar scene at a British
seaside town. You're stoppingfor a snack when you have your
treat pinched by a precociousgull.
Seagulls are getting bigger,badder and more of a pest. Or so
we are led to believe.
But are we missing the pointabout seagulls? Could their
behaviour reflect higherintelligence and
resourcefulness?

(01:31):
Traits to be admired rather thanmaligned?
We're heading to Poole Harbouron England's south-west coast to
uncover the truth aboutseagulls.
Love them or hate them, you'rein for some surprises.
Hello, I'm Ranger RosieHoldsworth. If you're a National
Trust podcast listener, you'veprobably noticed that we look a
bit different.

(01:51):
We've changed to bring you evenmore immersive stories in nature
and history. Head to our newpodcast, Back When, for hidden
histories and tales from time.But stay here for nature
mysteries.
Welcome to Wild Tales, GangsterGulls.

(02:11):
So no trip to the seaside iscomplete without a fish and chip
shop stop and I can see alongthis lovely parade of shops here
there's a bright and breezylooking chip shop ready to go.
Hello, how are we doing? Great,thank you. Could we have two
bags of chips please? Thank you.
Do you have much bother withseagulls?

GENERIC (02:31):
Yes, usually swoop down from the ledge above and take
the whole tray, food, chips andfish.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (02:39):
Well, hopefully the chips will tempt
them in because that's whatwe're here to see today.

GENERIC (02:42):
If you throw them about, they'll be here in
seconds.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (02:44):
Thanks very much.
As a countryside manager in WestYorkshire, my usual haunts are
blasted moorlands and woodedvalleys. So to come down to the
south coast is a real rare treatfor me.
And as we stand here on the sideof the quay, I can see to my
right hand side some veryindustrial looking docks. And by

(03:05):
sharp contrast on the left,there's some really expensive
looking yachts and a cormorantjust popped up in front of us
here in the bay.
Perching on some of those yachtswith their beady eyes fixed
keenly on me are several hungrylooking seagulls but I can see
over here someone else lookinghungry and I think it must be

(03:26):
Mya Bambrick who I'm hoping isgoing to teach me a thing or two
about gulls.
Hi Mya I hope you're hungry I'vebrought you some chips.

MYA BAMBRICK (03:34):
Hiya thank you very much.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (03:36):
I have to confess, I'm a bit of a seagull
agnostic, so I'm hoping you cantell me some things that might
convert me.

MYA BAMBRICK (03:42):
I'll try my very best.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (03:44):
So Mya, you're an ornithologist. Where does
that interest in birds comefrom?

MYA BAMBRICK (03:49):
I grew up in Crawley in Sussex. I happened to
watch Springwatch on the tellyone day, and I was absolutely
entranced in some of thewildlife you could see here in
the UK.
So I managed to persuade my mumto take me to my local nature
reserve. From then on, everyweekend, I was in the bird
hides.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (04:07):
You've continued that interest and
you're a youth representativefor the British Trust For
Ornithology, is that right?

MYA BAMBRICK (04:12):
Yeah, that's right. So trying to get as many
young people interested withbirds, with wildlife, with
citizen science.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (04:19):
As well as being in her final year at
university, Mya also works forBirds Of Poole Harbour, helping
to engage the public with theincredible wildlife here.
That brings us neatly on toseagulls. Oh, that's a misnomer,
isn't it? I shouldn't call themseagulls.

MYA BAMBRICK (04:34):
We always say there's no such thing as a
seagull. So there are manydifferent gull species here in
the UK.
In Poole Harbour, we have sortof six main common gull species.
So we've got one right behind usat the moment. But this is a
herring gull.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (04:49):
Am I right in thinking that they're the guys
who get all of the gulls a bitof a bad rap?

MYA BAMBRICK (04:53):
It is indeed. So this is the classic seagull, as
much as I don't like to say it.This one here is an adult. You
can see it's got a lovely greyback, white underneath. It's got
that quite big, large yellowbill with a red dot on it which
is classic of a herring gull.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (05:11):
The red dot on the beak is a very important
part of some gulls' physicalmakeup as Dr Viola Ross-Smith
from the BTO explains.

DR VIOLA ROSS-SMITH (05:19):
They're actually fantastic, fascinating
birds to watch. Nico Timbergen,the famous Dutch scientist, got
a Nobel Prize in 1973 for hisstudies on the behaviour of
herring gulls.
So one of the things hediscovered was that herring
gulls have got a red spot ontheir beak and chicks peck at
their red spots when they firsthatch to make parents

(05:39):
regurgitate food.
It's not just herring gulls thatdo this. All the large
white-headed gulls have the samered spot on the beak.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (05:45):
So not just a random marking, but an
evolutionary tool.

MYA BAMBRICK (05:50):
You can see it's also got those grey streaks on
the head.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (05:53):
Yep.

MYA BAMBRICK (05:54):
So that's adult winter plumage. So the younger
birds will look brown, streaky.But you can see there's actually
one just behind it. And thishere is probably the youngster
of this adult.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (06:06):
Ah right!
And those chicks can be quitedemanding at times.

MYA BAMBRICK (06:11):
So they'll actually chase the adults around
up until they have their nextclutch in the spring.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (06:19):
Wow.

MYA BAMBRICK (06:20):
As we've been walking, I can hear some of the
food begging calls from theherring gulls and that's because
they're still chasing theparents around.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (06:27):
Speaking of food, herring gulls have some
ingenious ways of getting atasty morsel or two.

MYA BAMBRICK (06:32):
They'll rise up in the air, drop shellfish down
onto the ground and then swoopdown so then it's broken open.
And they'll keep doing that.They'll be persistent until it's
actually cracked open.
You know, herring gulls will doit, carrion crows, greater black
back gulls.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (06:47):
And if you think that's impressive...

MYA BAMBRICK (06:50):
You might sometimes be able to see herring
gulls doing a little dance. Sothey kind of pat their feet onto
the grass.
And what they're trying to do ischarm the worms to replicate
rain. Sound of rain. And thenyou'll see them plucking a worm
out of the grass.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (07:05):
Nice!

MYA BAMBRICK (07:06):
They will scavenge for chips and things, but they
have such a bad rep. And what'sreally important is learn about
their ecology. Then we get moreunderstanding of why they're
doing that. Yeah.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (07:18):
It sounds like they're quite intelligent birds
then, and they're basicallyopportunists, and the
opportunity is humans with chipsand shellfish lying around.
Love them or hate them, herringgulls are facing some serious
challenges, as Dr ViolaRoss-Smith explains.

DR VIOLA ROSS-SMITH (07:34):
They're a bit of a marmite species. Some
people love them, I love them.But a lot of people really
dislike them, particularly inthe summer, when you've got the
kind of classic summer headlinesabout gulls taking over.
You know, eating yourchihuahuas, they're going to be
coming for your children next,that kind of thing. That's the
herring gull that is typicallybeing demonised.

(07:55):
They're not going to eat yourchildren. They're actually a
red-listed seabird. They're onthe Birds Of Conservation red
list. They have been since 2009because of population declines.
So they might seem like they'retaking over, but they're
actually not. Part of thereason, I think, for the
misconception is because they'restrong holders in urban areas.
They're doing pretty wellnesting on urban rooftops,

(08:16):
partly because there aren't somany predators in places like
that, and they can getpredictable year-round food from
the rubbish we drop, forexample.
But in the wider countryside,their numbers are not doing well
at all. The most recent seabirdcensus, which was published in
November 2023, showed reallystark declines for herring gulls
across the country.
I think we need to learn to loveherring gulls and live alongside

(08:38):
them because we're in abiodiversity crisis and if a big
strong adaptable species likethe herring gull isn't doing
very well, then what does thatsay about the prospects for more
fragile species?

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (08:48):
Now that I know a bit more about herring
gulls, I'm keen to discover whatother species are around.
We've wandered a little bitfurther along the quay. I can
see the old lifeboat house andthe lifeboat museum here.
There's some lobster pots piledup on the quay. The cormorants
followed us and we're into someof the fishing boats in the
harbour here. And perched on therooftop of the museum, Mya

(09:10):
points out two very differentlooking gulls.

MYA BAMBRICK (09:12):
So we've got on the left hand side is a herring
gull. And on the right-handside, we've got a much smaller
species of gull.
It's got a grey back, whiteunderside, dark red legs and a
dark red bill. And that there isa black-headed gull.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (09:29):
Why is it called a black-headed gull?
Because that guy's definitelynot got a black head.

MYA BAMBRICK (09:33):
So first of all, this bird is in winter plumage.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (09:36):
Right.

MYA BAMBRICK (09:36):
It just has what we call earmuffs, so little
black marks behind the eye.Whereas in the summer, when
they're in their breedingplumage, They actually have a
brown hood on their head.
So even in the summer, theydon't have a black head.
Oh, helpful.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (09:51):
But they're a much smaller, daintier looking
gull, aren't they?

MYA BAMBRICK (09:53):
Well, they're one of our smallest species of gull.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (09:56):
Are they going to bother me for my chips?

MYA BAMBRICK (09:58):
Yeah, so they also are quite generalist feeders.
So you will see them come down,maybe not to steal your chips,
but definitely make the most ofany that are discarded on the
ground.
But also they'll be chasingafter fishing boats as well in
the harbour. So very much,again, opportunists as most gull
species are.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (10:18):
As we make our way along the quay towards
Baiter Park for some more gullspotting, an unexpected visitor
appears.

MYA BAMBRICK (10:25):
Kingfisher!

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (10:25):
Kingfisher!
Oh, wow. Yeah, there he goes.Zoom!

MYA BAMBRICK (10:29):
Yeah!
But this is the best place inthe winter to see kingfishers in
Poole Harbour. Along these rocksas well, you can often scan
along and there'll be Cormorant,Shag. Sometimes there'll be
waders as well, like OysterCatcher, Dunlin, Ring Plover.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (10:45):
Right, there's always something to see.

MYA BAMBRICK (10:47):
Yeah, even in such an urban area like this, it's
still so important for birds.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (10:52):
Yeah.
We pause as Maya hands me herbinoculars. She's spotted
something in the distance.

MYA BAMBRICK (10:57):
See over there, just towards Baiter Park, you've
got a line of gulls.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (11:02):
Yeah. Sitting beautifully on top of the goal
posts. Yeah. So what are welooking at there?

MYA BAMBRICK (11:07):
So these are all black-headed gulls.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (11:11):
Yeah, they really vary actually, don't
they? Some of them have almostgot a full kind of hat on and
some of them have just got theearmuff.

MYA BAMBRICK (11:18):
Exactly, so that's why if you're trying to get into
gulls, it's also important tolearn the differences in
plumage. So what's their winterplumage, what's their breeding
plumage?

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (11:27):
Yeah, I hadn't realised how much they'd vary
just between individuals.

MYA BAMBRICK (11:30):
So I've been scanning along these flocks of
black-headed gulls to see ifthere are any what we call med
gulls for short. And there are.So they look quite similar, but
they kind of lack any black onthe wings.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (11:44):
They're very smart looking, aren't they?

MYA BAMBRICK (11:46):
Yeah. So we call them white wingers.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (11:48):
Oh, very nice.

MYA BAMBRICK (11:48):
So you can see it's got a bit of a chunkier
build on black-headed gull, muchbrighter red. Yeah. And also
kind of a black mask.
When I was younger, one of myfirst memories of gulls was when
I was birding at Packham Harbourin Sussex. And I didn't know
what it was until I got myscope, had a look.
And it had this amazing, youknow, bright red bill, bright

(12:09):
red legs. And I just thought itwas absolutely stunning.
I didn't realise gulls could bethat kind of colourful and
striking. Not that there'sanything wrong with a lovely,
immature herring gull, but assort of a beginner birder, that
really stood out to me.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (12:24):
I had not seen them before, so it's a really
nice treat to see Mediterraneangulls.

MYA BAMBRICK (12:27):
We've got about 300 breeding pairs of
Mediterranean gull. And that,again, goes towards that
designation of Poole Harbourbeing an SPA, a special
protection area.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (12:38):
Pool Harbour was classified as an SPA in 1999
to safeguard its important birdpopulations, including rare,
vulnerable and migratoryspecies. However, despite this
protection, gulls still facemany challenges.

MYA BAMBRICK (12:52):
Because they're a ground-nesting bird, they're
quite at risk from a number ofspecies, carrion crow, raven,
foxes, badgers, even othergulls, so greater black-backed
gulls. You know, the secondlargest gull in the world will
predate eggs, chicks.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (13:09):
Despite the perception that gulls are
abundant, all of our so-calledcommon gull species are either
amber or red listed. Thisincludes all the species we've
spotted today.

MYA BAMBRICK (13:19):
As well as climate change impacting food
availability, the lack offishing disregards the closing
of landfill sites and also alack of nesting opportunities.
So it's not a particularly goodoutlook and which is why it's so
important that we survey them.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (13:39):
Later this afternoon, Mya and a team of
volunteers will take part in awinter gull survey, a citizen
science project for the BTO.
This survey only happens onceevery 10 years and is said to be
quite a spectacle. And the bestpart, Maya has asked me to take
part.

MYA BAMBRICK (13:56):
We're going to be meeting up at dusk to count the
gulls coming into roost. Oh,fantastic.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (14:01):
Yeah, I will be there.

EMMA CAULFIELD (14:04):
My name is Emma Caulfield and I'm a research
ecologist at the British TrustFor Ornithology.
We are a citizen science-ledresearch organisation. The
winter gull Survey began in 1953to survey and produce population
estimates for our winteringpopulation of gulls here in the

(14:24):
UK.
So the winter gulls survey istaking advantage of a behaviour
called roosting. Essentially,during the sunset. You might see
them flying overhead in lines ofa couple of hundred coming off
pig fields or any other kind offeeding areas.
And they'll travel to largerwater bodies. And they're just a

(14:45):
wonder to watch.
Multiple thousands of gulls willarrive onto this unassuming
water body. And suddenly it's aflurry of gull activity and
squawking and pecking and allthe rest.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (15:00):
Just a few hours ago we were down right in
the centre of the town in a verybusy urban environment and we've
come probably only a couple ofmiles out here to Ham Common and
it's a beautiful heathland.We've got the sun setting behind
us.
And right on cue, here's Mya,and she's got someone else for
me to meet.
Hello, Paul. Really nice to meetyou.

PAUL MORTON (15:18):
Hello.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (15:19):
Paul is one of the co-founders of Birds Of
Poole Harbour, a small charitythat helps connect people with
the diverse bird life in thearea.

PAUL MORTON (15:27):
A bit of work, I think most people know us for,
is the osprey reintroduction,which we started in 2017. And
now in this landscape just here,we've got breeding ospreys,
which is the first in southernEngland for 200 years.
So we're small, but we're very,very active and quite
passionate, I guess.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (15:42):
Can you tell us what we're here to do?

PAUL MORTON (15:44):
This evening there's a big coordinated
national winter gull roostsurvey that's being carried out
at all the really importantwetland sites, both coastal and
inland as well, so gravel pitsand reservoirs.
And the reason it's happening isbecause gulls on the whole are a
group of birds that are sadlystruggling for lots of different
reasons, breeding and in termsof their overwintering

(16:05):
populations, because the picturechanges this time of year.
Not only do we have our localgulls, you know, some of the
birds that you saw earlier intown, the herring gulls. But we
also get big arrivals of gullsfrom all over Europe that come
and spend the winter here aswell.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (16:19):
And there's no guarantee how many gulls we will
see tonight.

PAUL MORTON (16:22):
If it's a really torrid night, if it's a really
wet, windy, yucky, horrid night,it's probably tens and tens of
thousands.
But tonight, anything between15,000 to 20,000.
But what we'll do is we'll godown to the beach and then we'll
go and count the gulls in oursector just here. And then
that's us done for the survey.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (16:40):
Head down to the beach.

PAUL MORTON (16:41):
Yeah, let's do it.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (16:41):
Have a closer look.
Leaving the viewing point behindus, we carefully make our way
down the wooden steps onto thewater's edge, where Paul and Mya
set up the scope, ready to beginthe rather daunting task of
counting the gulls.

PAUL MORTON (16:55):
Grab the scope, look through there, grab the
handle and just pan right andyou'll see how many birds are
out there.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (17:01):
Oh my word, yeah.

PAUL MORTON (17:02):
Keep going, keep going. And there's thousands of
birds.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (17:05):
What looked like just little sort of ripples
in the sand. And dark patchesare all actually gulls.

PAUL MORTON (17:12):
Yeah I'm going to start looking out with Mya now
and just checking this littlefinger of land out in front of
us. Ready Maya?

MYA BAMBRICK (17:21):
Yeah ready to go.

PAUL MORTON (17:22):
I'll scan three or four times first just so I've
got a rough idea in my headwhat's out there and roughly how
much is out there.
So I'm going to start countingBlack-headed gulls.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (17:38):
So we're only counting birds that are settled
on the water?

PAUL MORTON (17:42):
Black-headed gulls are the smallest. The ones I
think people find trickier,things like common gulls, quite
cute looking but they're a bitnondescript and the greater
blackbacks are big bruisers, bigloners.

MYA BAMBRICK (17:54):
Just straight down from the wind turbine to the
right.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (17:57):
Oh is that what I thought was a goose?

MYA BAMBRICK (17:59):
Yes.
Not a goose, it's not a goose,it's a gull.

PAUL MORTON (18:05):
There's two different gull calls there. So
the really high pitch, that'sthe herring gulls. And then the
ones you can hear that aregoing, "oh, oh" that's the
greater blackbacks.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (18:16):
So we're just watching dozens of gulls flying
in really, really low over thewater. And the sun's set now.
It's dropped behind the horizon.
But the light coming across thewater with the gulls flying low
across is just extraordinarilybeautiful.

PAUL MORTON (18:31):
Come and have a look through the scope here? Can
you see all the birds sat on theisland out there?

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (18:35):
Oh yeah yeah yeah!
Whoa again when you get your eyein there's absolutely hundreds
of them!

PAUL MORTON (18:43):
Yeah.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (18:44):
Mostly gulls are they chilling out having a
chitter chatter before bed?

PAUL MORTON (18:49):
Birds in the winds are all very sociable because
they're all looking to learn offeach other where the best
feeding sites are and you knowthey get a lot of information
off of each other so yeahthey're probably all just having
a bit of a catch-up at themoment.
The islands that they're sat onThat's the gull colony in the
spring and summer.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (19:05):
Ah, right.

PAUL MORTON (19:06):
Those are the gull breeding islands.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (19:07):
Yeah.

PAUL MORTON (19:08):
When we first surveyed those in 2008, there
were about 8,500 pairs ofblack-headed gulls nesting on
these islands.
But with rising water levels,it's eroding the islands away.
When we went out and surveyedlast year, we only had about
4,000.
One of the reasons Poole Harbourstays as beautiful as it is, I
mean, this landscape we've gotin front of us, is like this

(19:31):
because we have importantnumbers of gulls coming here.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (19:35):
Because it's protected.

PAUL MORTON (19:37):
Exactly.
So making sure that nothinghappens to those islands or
trying to safeguard that colonyis really key to the whole
harbour's preservation over thenext 20-odd years or forever,
really.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (19:50):
So we're just about losing the light. There's
still a couple of stragglergulls hanging around, but mostly
I think they've headed off toroost now. Have you got an idea,
Paul, of how many we've managedto count this evening?

PAUL MORTON (20:04):
My list here we've got just the two greater black
back gulls, 36 common gull, 41herring gull, 14 common gull and
one med gull.

ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (20:16):
As we pack away our scopes and binoculars,
the sun has finally set. I justwant to say a massive thank you
to Paul and to Mya for showingme around today.
So I've learned that gulls arean incredibly diverse set of
species. There's no such thingas a seagull and I'm now a
fully-fledged gull fan.

(20:36):
They're incredibly intelligentbirds and rather than get angry
about gulls when they steal ourchips we just need to learn to
live with them and understandthat they're just carving out an
ecological niche like any othersuccessful species.

(21:00):
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(21:22):
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(21:45):
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