The largest gull in the world is the Great Black-backed Gull and it is common along the Atlantic coast of North America. Cornell Lab refers to it as “the king of the Atlantic waterfront”. Great Black-backs are 30 in (up to 80 cm) long and are known as aggressive hunters, pirates and scavengers.
They hunt fish, invertebrates and other birds. They also raid dumpsters, fishing boats and human food supplies. Their piratical exploits put Blackbeard to shame. They bully smaller birds to steal their food. They snatch food from larger animals, including eagles and even sharks. They are nest raiders that grab eggs, chicks and small birds. All this makes them an extremely successful creature. I have captured a few of their exploits over the years. These are Least Terns attempting to harass a Great Black-backed Gull who came too close to a nesting area.
A little breaking and entry….
This one mugged a duck for the crab it had just caught.
Attempted robbery of a fish from an Osprey….
Of course you don’t apply human ethics to a bird. This highly versatile hunter/scavenger is an evolutionary success that can survive all sorts of environments and conditions.
Birds in My Viewfinder 
Enjoyed this narrative Mike…I noticed a band on the gull robbing peoples bag on the beach…maybe it’s like an ankle bracelet for criminals!
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Enjoyed this narrative Mike…noticed the gull robbing the people’s bag on the beach was banded…is this like an ankle monitor like we use on criminals?
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Not much of ankle monitor since he seems to be roaming quite freely. Maybe he left the shackle on his ankle when he escaped and that is his inmate number!
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