The largest gull in the world, the Great Black-backed Gull lives mostly by the coasts of the North Atlantic. Adults weigh over 4lbs. and may have a wing span of 5.5ft. Adult gulls either scavenge or capture their food. They eat fish, crabs, shellfish and when in season young birds and eggs.
Click on the photo to see video of a nesting Black-back Gull.
Gull Chick
Juvenile Black-backed Gulls do not fly away from
the nest area until
they are over two months old. It takes about four months for a chick to
leave the care of its parents and hunt on it's own. However, some chicks
may rely on their parents for up to a year after they hatch.
Click on the photo to see a video of a Gull Chick in its nest.
Herring Gull
Herring Gulls are medium sized gulls. Their wingspan is up to 4.5ft. and they can weigh almost 3lbs. Like the Black-back's, Herring Gulls are both scavengers and hunters and will frequently eat fish, shellfish, insects, birds and eggs.
Click on the photo to see video of a Herring Gull.
Tussock Moth Caterpillar
Gus found this Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar on one of our days off. Unfortunately we did not have the video camera but we got a great photo of it on Gus' hand. Be cautious when handling this caterpillar, it's hair may cause a defensive rash like poison ivy. So be careful when handling it! Pretty cool caterpillar!
Regurgitation Redux
A gull's idea of food shopping for the kids is far from the usual grocery markets we humans frequent. Gulls need to scavenge or capture their food from around the coastal waters of North America.
So how do they get the food back to the nest for the chicks? They don't have hands or arms and their webbed feet are only suitable for swimming, right?
So they eat it. That's right, they eat what they find and fly it back to their chicks where they, and this is the best part, throw up or regurgitate the food. This way it's easier for the young chicks to eat and digest (because it's already partly digested!). That's so gross... but pretty cool!
To watch videos you may need QuickTime click link to download.
