Changing Numbers of Three Gull Species in the British Isles

Nager, Ruedi G.; O’Hanlon, Nina J.

doi:10.1675/063.039.sp108

Cited by 17 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In the first part of the 20th century, gull populations increased in the United Kingdom (Chabrzyk and Coulson 1976;Coulson 1991) and Finland (Hario and Rintala 2016). Large-scale surveys across Britain and Ireland took place in 1969-1970, 1985-1988, and 1998-2002, and showed overall declines in Herring and Great Black-backed gulls, as well as shifts to more urban settings (Mitchell et al 2004;Nager and O'Hanlon 2016), which have been attributed to changes in landfill practices and the availability of fish-eries discards (Hudson and Furness 1989;Furness et al 1992). Big increases that occurred during much of the 20th century have now reversed.…”

Section: Case Study Comparisons: Other Regions and Other Gull Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction: A Historical Perspective on Trends in Some Gulls in Eastern North America, with Reference to Other Regions

et al. 2016

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Section: Case Study Comparisons: Other Regions and Other Gull Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction: A Historical Perspective on Trends in Some Gulls in Eastern North America, with Reference to Other Regions

et al. 2016

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“…The first cases of rooftop nesting by herring gulls Larus argentatus were reported in Great Britain at the beginning of 20th century (Monaghan and Coulson 1977), but the habit spread rapidly across Europe within a couple of decades. A country-wide survey in Britain and Ireland revealed over ten thousand pairs of herring gulls nesting on rooftops in mid-1990s (Raven and Coulson 1997), and this increasing trend is thought to continue (Nager and O'Hanlon 2016). In Europe, rooftop nesting was also recorded in several other larid species, such as yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis, lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus, great black-backed gull Larus marinus, common gull Larus canus, and kittiwake Rissa tridactyla (Raven and Coulson 1997, Kubetzki and Garthe 2007, Soldatini et al 2007.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extensive gene flow along the urban–rural gradient in a migratory colonial bird

Indykiewicz

Podlaszczuk

Janiszewska

et al. 2018

Journal of Avian Biology

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Urban colonization by wildlife involves a combination of several different mechanisms, including phenotype or genotype sorting, phenotypic plasticity and microevolutionary adaptation. Combination of these processes can produce a rapid phenotypic, but also genetic divergence of urban versus rural populations. Here, we examined the pattern of genetic differentiation between urban and rural populations of a colonial migratory bird, the black‐headed gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus. To this end, we sampled ca 170 individuals from six (two urban and four rural) colonies in northern Poland, and genotyped them at ten microsatellite loci. Our analysis provided evidence for negligible genetic divergence of urban and rural colonies, as assessed with fixation index FST and Nei's unbiased genetic distance D (mean pairwise urban‐rural comparisons: FST = 0.003 ± 0.001 [SE] and D = 0.012 ± 0.006 [SE]). Bayesian clustering methods provided support for homogeneous genetic structure across all urban and rural populations. Also, we found no support for reduced allelic diversity in urban versus rural colonies. These results stand in a stark contrast to the previous findings on the genetic consequences of urbanization in birds. We hypothesize that this pattern could possibly be attributed to the important life‐history characters of the black‐headed gull, including coloniality, migratoriness, and high dispersal propensity. Our study provides a novel insight into the urban landscape genetics, underlining large variation in the mechanisms of urban colonization and its genetic consequences in wild animal populations.

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“…This is potentially because lesser black-backed gulls came to these advantageous environments later than herring gulls, and originally joined towns and cities already colonised by other gull species (Raven and Coulson, 1997). However, numbers of lesser black-backed gulls seen in townsincluding St Andrewsmay soon be similar to herring gulls; the rate at which these gulls are moving in to urban habitats is increasing faster than the rate for herring gulls and they have been found colonising urban areas further inland (Raven and Coulson, 1997;Nager and O'Hanlon, 2016).…”

Section: A) Nesting Gullsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, street lights in urban environments have allowed for night time feeding on anthropogenic sources (Rock and Vaughan, 2013), although a complete shift to feeding on anthropogenic food has not been seen and birds still exploit natural food sources (Coulson and Coulson, 2008). This is coupled with other potential benefits provided by urban environments including: refuges from natural predators and easily accessible nesting sites (Monaghan and Coulson, 1977;Raven and Coulson, 1997;Nager and O'Hanlon, 2016;Rock et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Herring gulls are red-listed on the UK Birds of Conservation Concern list (Eaton et al, 2015); in the last few decades they have been decreasingparticularly in their natural coastal habitats. Herring gull numbers declined by 57% between 1969-2002 across the British Isles, including the area around St Andrews (Nager and O'Hanlon, 2016). In contrast, numbers of lesser black-backed gulls in the UK have increased over the last few decades, however they are amber-listed (Eaton et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying the impacts of urban human-wildlife conflicts – how can we solve the urban gull problem in St Andrews?

Smith

2020

Preprint

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Interactions between urban wildlife and people are increasing globally. Some of these interactions can be negative and lead to human-wildlife conflicts. In St Andrews, Scotland, residents and business owners have come into conflict with herring gulls (Larus argentatus) and lesser black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus) that nest and forage in the town. This study quantified the number, species and distribution of nesting gulls; the vulnerability of different sources of rubbish to attack; and the likelihood of negative human-gull interactions related to food. Surveys were conducted in St Andrews during the 2016 breeding season (May-July). Nesting gull density and distribution were estimated during weekly street surveys of buildings; vantage surveys were conducted for some buildings and a correction factor estimating a minimum number of nesting gulls was produced. 110 nesting gull pairs were estimated and these occupied ~10% of buildings. The vulnerability of waste sources to attack was monitored during transects recording whether or not rubbish sources were attacked. Black bin bags had the highest probability of being attacked, but placing these in secured hessian bags prevented this. The frequency of negative human-gull interactions involving food at street-level was determined during 10-minute timed watches at various locations. Incidences of gulls taking food were rare; only eight were seen in 30 hours of watches. Altering human behaviour (for example, disposing of waste securely) will mitigate potential issues with urban wildlife. Findings from this study will enable effective management of human-gull conflicts in St Andrews and have potential applications in other urban communities.

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Changing Numbers of Three Gull Species in the British Isles

Cited by 17 publications

References 29 publications

Introduction: A Historical Perspective on Trends in Some Gulls in Eastern North America, with Reference to Other Regions

Introduction: A Historical Perspective on Trends in Some Gulls in Eastern North America, with Reference to Other Regions

Extensive gene flow along the urban–rural gradient in a migratory colonial bird

Quantifying the impacts of urban human-wildlife conflicts – how can we solve the urban gull problem in St Andrews?

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