Why are Seagulls behaving like this?

[PaulB]

I live on the South Coast and am getting really annoyed at being woken up by Seagulls Screaming all through the night. Can someone tell me why they doing this lately cos it's drivin me mad!!! Thanks :o)

[brawburd]

Dunno! But problem shared by my mother on Scottish easy coast, lasted about a year then stopped. During that period there was a lot of building work going on locally (dock development). The noise was unbelievable - nae sleep to be had! Hope it stops soon for you.

[comloulou]

ditto in ramsgate, its worse around 4am to 7am. I swear one flies through our street screaming at about 4am and waks all the others up. Then all hell breaks loose. Theyre also getting more aggressive, i watched 2 swooping on this poor lad and a dog on the sea front the other day.

[katejess]

Just to veer from the subject of screaming seagulls for a moment, I live in the centre of the UK and we normally only see seagulls when there is bad coastal weather. The strange thing is, that in the last couple of days I have seen hundreds of them on lamp posts and playing fields in my town. Does anyone have any idea why they should come inland during such warm weather? As for screaming birds......it's not just seagulls that drive people crazy.....starlings make a lot of noise first thing in the morning. So much so that they wake my cat who then thinks that because he is awake, I should be awake. So I blame the dawn chorus for the heavy thud of four paws landing on my back and the incessant squeaking in my ears at 4 in the morning!

[PaulB]

Thanks for all your answers guys - they are really starting to get to me, I'm losing sleep! GGGRR lol

[FredPuli]

You don't say whether you are in a town but it seems likely that the birds are responding to the light. They scream to announce to other seagulls that they are there on their bit of territory as well as to attract the attention of potential mates. Once there is light they'll start. If there is a lot of street light thay may be confused into thinking it is time to scream. I used to be plagued by young starlings in London because there was a security light on the wall of my block and the birds could perch by the window and get lit by it; they treated that as though the sun was up..

[Hellion]

I live right on the coast too, the seagulls start their 'dawn chorus' earlier than the garden birds. But at this time of the year their are lots of insects, flying ants etc and they make a row when their going for those.

[Cetti]

I do hope you're joking norman, as these are protected birds, and a licence is needed for culling purposes.

[quattro]

My theory is that they are fooled into thinking its daytime because of the artificial light as I have heard other birds behaving the same way . I also believe that they come inland because they have discovered an easy source of food in tips and land fill sites and by following tractors ploughing up the land. When they descend on fields on mass they can simulate rainfall by marching on the spot to fool the worms into thinking its raining and bringing them to the surface - honestly !!!

[brawburd]

FredPuli - good point about the light. The dock work I mentioned above meant that the dock area was constantly lit throughout night - which might explain why the seagulls never gave in n shut up!

[PaulB]

You lot are great! I heard that if you put a "dummy" Owl on the roof then they'll stay away.... Right, so, easier to buy a dummy Owl or a shotgun? LOL ;op I hate nothing but really, I can't handle (nor can anyone else round here) these damn EVIL birds. I'd prefer the dawn chorus of the normal birds I used to hear :o) These creatures are driving me insane!!! *Sobs* Thanks everyone again for your helpful replies :o)

[drochit]

Cetti I've just had a look at the lists for protected birds and I can't find any gulls mentioned. There are however 3 species of gull listed as *may be killed or taken* and these are the Lesser Black Backed, Great Black Backed and Herring Gulls.
So I reckon that Norman is ok to shoot away to his heart's content.
I am ready to be corrected though, if you can point me in the right direction.

[Janetex]

Seagulls protected? What's next, rats and pigeons?

[banana]

Some friends have moved to Bridlington and are very aware of these pests. And they Do scream all through the night - light seems to have little to do with it.Brid isnt know for its bright lights at the best of times ( ;-) ). They have seriously considered buying a BB gun and have taken up target practice with paper targets as a way to dissapate their frustration.Other locals have those plastice spines on the roofs to stop them from resting but the damned things still screech while in flight anyway.

[Cetti]

Just had a look round drochit to try and get the correct info regarding killing gulls. This link is a good start - and plain English, which is unusual.

http://www.geocities.com/wildlifeambulance/seagull
s.html

Did you get your facts from the DEFRA site - it does say that all birds are protected, and only authorised people ( not just anyone with a gun licence) are permitted to cull. Which makes sense - can you imagine the uproar ( not to mention the injuries) if anybody who owned an air gun was taking pot shots at birds that happened to annoy them, or for sport? It's another issue, I know, but this is what's happening on the continent - songbirds and raptors are being slaughtered in their thousands!

I also live on the south coast, so I do know what a dreadful noise they make, but a lot of the blame must go to the hundreds of people who actively encourage them moving inland by putting vast amounts of bread in their gardens.

norman - If you are still not convinced, get in touch with your local RSPB and ask their opinion about shooting birds.