By Paul Noeldner
Friends of Urban Nature
Our birds of the month for August and September are two seagull species that are quite common in Madison, even though we are far from the ocean. Gulls like to be around any body of water. They look like giant grey and white pigeons when standing on the ground but become stunningly beautiful when swooping by on their gracefully tapered four-foot white wingspan with black tips.
The foot-and-a-half long Ring-billed Gull, which is the most common in summer, has yellow legs and is aptly named by the dramatic black ring around its large yellow bill, like someone used a magic marker.
The even bigger Herring Gull, which loves fish and is most common in winter, has a thicker football-player looking neck, pink legs and a red spot on its lower bill.
The Latin word for gull is “larux,” which means throat, as in gullet, probably due to their habit of swallowing food whole. We call a person “gullible” when they willingly swallow anything someone says.
Gulls are highly adaptable and readily accommodate humans nearby. These gregarious social birds can be seen all around Madison in scattered flocks diving and bobbing for fish on lakes, soaring gracefully overhead, swooping to snag bugs in midair, scavenging in fields for grubs, cleaning up popcorn in parking lots, and snatching French fries from picnic tables.
There are many other interesting species of gulls, and serious birders love to look for unusual visitors like black-headed Bonaparte’s Gulls mixed in with hundreds of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls when they gather at their favorite restaurant — a landfill.
