My favourite part of working behind the bar in a small Cornish pub is having conversations with people from so many different walks of life. I’ll often find myself chatting to local fishermen, tourists down from London for a week by the sea, or university professors, amongst other beautifully varied and interesting backgrounds. However, one conversation I find myself having over and over again, goes something along these lines:
This line of thinking is totally understandable, and I’ve even had similar conversations with fellow scientists. So, I decided that Herring Gulls should be the focus of this article: what are they, why are they considered endangered in the UK, and what can we do about it?
What is a seagull?
Hardcore birdwatchers will smugly tell you, “There’s no such thing as a seagull”. Actually, there are 50 different species of gull, six of which breed in the UK. However, to most people, a seagull is the bird that they see in seaside towns creating lots of noise and stealing chips from unsuspecting tourists. They are formally known as Larus argentatus, or the Herring Gull.
Surprising status of Herring Gulls in the UK
Globally, the Herring Gull population is not considered to be at risk. In fact, the IUCN (or International Union for the Conservation of Nature – the organisation which assesses species for their threat of extinction), classifies the European Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, as a safe-sounding ‘Least Concern’ 1.
However, a rating by the IUCN only reflects the worldwide average. When experts from numerous bird conservation charities and monitoring organisations applied the IUCN’s assessment criteria, alongside population predictions for 2050 under a 2ᵒC warming scenario, to Herring Gulls in the UK, they came to a surprising result. They agreed that the Herring Gull should be placed on the ‘Red’ list of Birds of Conservation Concern, meaning that it is under direct threat of extinction in this country 2. For an adaptable bird that seems to be everywhere, how can this be?
Why Are Herring Gulls Declining?
Herring Gulls have evolved to rely on the ocean for their food, and traditionally fed on fish and crustaceans, raising their chicks at the coast and foraging at sea. As humans began to fish on a large scale, gulls learned to follow fishing boats and scavenge on their ‘discards’: unwanted fish thrown back into the water 3. This method worked well for Herring Gulls for many years, but stronger restrictions on fishing vessels mean there has been a big reduction in the number of discards being thrown back to sea. Some of the gulls, of course, could return to the old methods of catching fish for themselves (or stealing from their neighbours), but centuries of intensive fishing in the North Atlantic mean that our fish stocks just aren’t what they were in the good old days.
At the same time, other gulls were taking advantage of a different human behaviour: storing waste in big piles, which are left almost completely unattended. We know these places as landfill sites, but I imagine Herring Gulls would refer to them as all-you-can-eat buffets. However, recent changes in the way we dispose of our waste have meant less is going to landfill, and we are also leaving our sites less exposed for the hungry gulls 3.
So, if they aren’t fishing, and they aren’t landfill-diving, where do the Herring Gulls go? They follow the humans again! These changes are driving more gulls away from natural nesting sites and rubbish tips and into urban areas, where they can scavenge from humans and nest on rooftops that are safe from predators. In fact, surveys have found that there are now more Herring Gulls nesting in urban habitats than at natural nesting sites 4. So yes, while my customers probably are seeing more seagulls in their bins than ever before, this doesn’t mean that the overall population is on the up.
Such increases in urban gulls can’t make up for the rapid loss of gulls elsewhere; in fact, England has lost more than 20% of its Herring Gulls in the three generations since the year 2000 4. Alongside the decline of natural food resources, one of the greatest threats to seabirds has been bird flu (or Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, to any disease ecologists out there). Herring Gulls are no exception, with 7% of the UK breeding population being lost to the disease in recent years 2. Projections of our population under climate change also don’t look too good, with a predicted decline of 28% in a 2ᵒC warming scenario, as warming seas further limit the gulls’ ability to find food at sea 2.
Why do UK declines matter?
For a start, the Herring Gull has an important role in the UK’s ecosystem. They’re nature’s clean-up team, scavenging for dead sea creatures and cycling nutrients between habitats. Furthermore, the population here is of international importance – 40% of the world’s North Atlantic Herring Gulls live in the UK, which means we qualify as “internationally important” 2. Consequently, if Herring Gulls go downhill here, the species as a whole will become far more vulnerable.
So how can we find Another Way?
As annoying as it can be to have your chips stolen by a plucky gull, these birds get a bad reputation when they are just trying their best to survive in an ever-changing world.
As we know, one of the greatest threats to seabirds is declining fish stocks. Something we can all do is to consume less fish, and make sure that it’s sustainable when we do eat it – leaving enough for hungry chicks.
You can also help protect them by keeping an eye out for gulls with coloured leg rings in your local area. Reporting these (with a photo where possible) helps scientists learn more about the movements of birds, and keep tabs on the changing population. If you live in a coastal town, be especially careful this spring not to disturb Herring Gulls that may be incubating eggs or raising chicks, and if you find a chick that looks abandoned, check out these guidelines from the RSPCA before deciding whether to intervene: https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/wildlife/birds/gulls/baby
Article written by Maddie Kirby
References:
- IUCN (2021). Larus argentatus (European Herring Gull). Available at: iucnredlist.org/species/62030608/166457685 (Accessed 02 June 2025).
- Stanbury, A., Burns, F, Aebischer, N., Baker, H., Balmer, D., Brown, A., Dunn, T., Lindley, P., Murphy, M., Noble, D., Owens, R. and Quinn, L. (2024). The status of the UK’s breeding seabirds: an addendum to the fifth Birds of Conservation Concern in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man and second IUCN Red List assessment of extinction risk for Great Britain. British Birds; 117. 471-487.
- Coulson, J. (2015). Re-Evaluation of the Role of Landfills and Culling in the Historic Changes in the Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) Population in Great Britain. Waterbirds; 38 (4). 339-354.
- Burnell, D. (2021) Population estimates for urban and natural nesting Herring Gull Larus argentatus and Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus in England. Natural England. Available at: https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5107642944192512 (Accessed 02 June 2025).
All images taken from Canva
