Feathered Action: Great Black-backed Gull

If a very large gull comes up to you on the beach and kicks sand in your face, it’s a Great Black-backed Gull. The largest gull in the world is a notorious predator, bully, thief and pirate. They hunt for invertebrates, scavenge carrion and trash, grab food from other birds (including eagles). They prey on eggs, chicks and even small adult birds. This one is engaging in a bit of piracy and has grabbed a crab from a Common Eider.

While it is amusing to assign human characteristics to a bird (all good stories involve pirates after all), it is completely irrelevant. Their aggressive nature is simply a survival strategy. Great Black-backed Gulls are a very successful species that is distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Other birds have developed ways to thwart them but they persist.