Are gulls the ultimate urban survivors, or just misunderstood masters of the coastal ecosystem?

Nature · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Gulls are far more than mere beach scavengers. These adaptable birds have mastered everything from cracking mollusk shells mid-air to hunting rabbits. Once nearly wiped out by the millinery trade, they staged a spectacular comeback, proving that their intelligence and opportunistic nature are unmatched in the avian world.

The Laridae family, which includes gulls, terns, and skimmers, represents a highly successful group of birds within the order Charadriiformes. While often viewed as simple scavengers, these birds are remarkably diverse. Gulls, specifically, are most abundant in the Northern Hemisphere, with about 30 species inhabiting temperate to Arctic regions. Their physical traits—such as strong, slightly hooked bills and webbed feet—are perfectly suited for their role as opportunistic feeders. They consume everything from insects and worms in plowed fields to fish along shores and garbage from human settlements.

The history of the herring gull illustrates the resilience of the family. At the turn of the 20th century, the species was rare, having been decimated by the millinery trade, which prized their feathers for women’s hats. Following legal protections and the emergence of open garbage dumps, they staged a massive recovery. Today, their adaptability is so pronounced that some conservationists express concern over their impact on other shorebird populations. They are known to steal food from other birds, snatch sandwiches from beachgoers, and even hunt moles or rabbits by hovering over their burrows.

Beyond their scavenging, gulls exhibit complex behaviors and specialized survival strategies. Some species, like the black-headed gull, migrate vast distances, while others, such as the California gull, are celebrated for their historical role in protecting crops from insect plagues. The family’s evolutionary origins remain a subject of active scientific debate. While some molecular studies suggest the lineage began expanding around 60 million years ago in the early Paleocene, other researchers, such as Gerald Mayr, argue that fossil calibration data may be unreliable, pointing instead to the late Eocene, roughly 35 million years ago, as the earliest evidence for the group.

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