At least once a week a find a juvenile gull dead on the beach where I walk my dogs, I don't think it is a fox as I think it would take the body away to eat. The whole of the chest has been plucked clean and eaten with no damage to the head, wings or legs and seems to have been eaten where it was killed. The one last week had a wound to its neck, any ideas? I think it may be a Peregrine.
No idea, but I'm definately interested in what others think!
Where abouts are you based though as this may answer your question by giving others an idea of what animals capable of killing a gull are in your general area.
Millie & Fly the Border Collies
I live in Anglesey, North Wales, there are a cliffs around and also South Stack which is an RSPB reserve which is about 12 - 15 miles away.
Hi Sidney, welcome to the forum.
It is not uncommon to find numerous remains scattered along the beaches, I would be more inclined to say that the gulls you are finding have died naturally or their deaths are possibly linked to other causes, pollution, exhaustion etc.
These remains then become a food source for many scavengers, also including crustaceans, foxes, carrion for numerous birds including the lager birds such as Great Black Backed, Lesser Black Backed and Herring Gulls.
The Biometrics of a Peregrine are quite small in relation to gulls, the Peregrine catch their prey in mid-air, so the likelihood of a Peregrine taking a seagull especially large gulls would be somewhat a rare occurrence, possible but not common.
Weight: About 2 lbs; females are slightly larger than males.
Diet : primarily birds, including waterfowl, shorebirds and other birds such as songbirds and ducks,as well as bats.
Diet
The mortality in 1st year juveniles birds can sometimes be high, due to adverse weather conditions, lack of food etc and could be the reason you are witnessing these birds .
Annual survival rates and, and consequent life-expectancy, vary enormously between bird species, for example, the life-expectancy of some small birds may only be a few months, while the larger albatrosses can expect to live many decades.
Mortality is not constant through a bird's life, being highest shortly after hatching. For example, two percent or more of Song Thrushes may die each day in the weeks immediately following leaving the nest, as they come to terms with their environment (Robinson et al. 2004). By the time they reach adulthood, the mortality rate will have decreased to about one bird in every hundred dying each week. Thus, most Song Thrushes (and other birds) that hatch will live for only a few months; only about 20% will survive to breed. This example will be broadly typical for most passerine birds, but less so for longer-lived species, such as seabirds and waders.
Hope This Helps
Regards Buzzard
Nature Is Amazing - Let Us Keep It That Way
Thank you for your thoughts on the dead gulls. There are, as you say, many remains scattered along the strand line after the tide has gone out including, over the past two or three months, gannets, cormerants, manx shearwaters, mallards, gulls and seals. You also see birds feeding on these carcasses but the gulls I have found have been killed/eaten on the beach way above the tide line and they are still 'fresh' when I see them at first light.
Sidney
Hi Sidney
The peregrine can take gulls, however large species like herring gulls are not likely to be taken. The smaller species such as the common or black-headed gulls are at the upper limit of what can be caught so it is entirely possible that a peregrine can be working this area if it is these species you are finding.
Your not in an area where sea eagles frequent are you? They certainly do take gulls!
Warden Intern at Otmoor.
Thank you for your reply, unfortunately we do not have Sea Eagles here with us, the largest raptor is probably a Buzzard, although I did some months ago spot a Red Kite in the Conwy Valley, which is about 30 miles away.
They are herring gulls which I am finding probably from last summer as they are still carrying a lot of brown feathers, I think they roost on the beach overnight which may suggest a fox is taking them, but I think a fox would take the body away to eat and these guys are killed, plucked and eaten in the same spot!
I have tried to see if there are any prints around the bodies but there never seem to be any.