Seagulls travel 20,000 miles & complete 2,300 trips in 100 days

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GPS tags reveal the secret life of urban seagulls
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...n-seagulls

EXCERPT: . . . holidays are nigh and with them, no doubt, will come stories of seagulls on the rampage, stealing ice cream and chips and launching attacks on people and pets.

But a ground-breaking study that tracked the movement of herring gulls nesting in the Cornish resort of St Ives suggested they spent little time scavenging for goodies or scraps on the streets.

It turned out the four birds studied each had their individual ways of operating. Two of them habitually headed far out to sea, one flying as far as County Wexford in Ireland, while the others stayed close to St Ives but spent much more time foraging for food on farmland than in the resort. In all, the four birds completed almost 2,300 trips over 100 days during the breeding season [...] and travelled a total of nearly 20,000 miles.

Peter Rock, the lead author of the study, said much was known about rural gulls but relatively little about urban-based ones like these four. He said: “They have been under-studied so our knowledge of urban gulls is nowhere near as good as it should be. In view of the bad press surrounding urban gulls, it’s a situation that must change and this small study points the way.”

Viola Ross-Smith, of the British Trust for Ornithology and a huge fan of gulls, said the findings showed that there could not be just one simple solution to the perceived problem of the birds. “This study demonstrates that gulls behave as individuals and there can be no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to managing their populations,” she said. “It is vital that any decisions about gull conservation and management are based on the best scientific evidence available if they are to succeed.”

MORE: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...n-seagulls

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Seagulls
https://www.donenright.com/7-habits-high...-seagulls/

EXCERPT: They’re loud, greedy, invasive, polluting and aggressive. They eat anything that moves and a lot of things that don’t. Hate them if you will, but seagulls are 100% badass. Here are the secrets to their astounding success.... (INCLUDED: Communicate loudly; Cooperate, Adapt, Persevere, Use your hidden talents, Diversify, Just do it)

MORE (details): https://www.donenright.com/7-habits-high...-seagulls/

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In Defence of the Seagull
https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/live-in-har...-seagulls/

EXCERPT: . . . Given the decline in gull numbers across the country [UK] and the numerous hazards that they face because of human activities, kind people should be helping them, not planning to wipe them out. Gulls can get hurt when they collide with buildings and traffic, get their beaks caught in fishing hooks or choke on pieces of plastic, and they are sometimes even deliberately attacked by callous individuals. Here’s what to do if you find an injured seagull...

MORE: https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/live-in-har...-seagulls/

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[Zinjanthropos]

One of my neighbours worked for the Ministry (Dept) of Natural Resources. Told me they put tracking transmitters on 8 Walleye on a northern Ontario lake. Of the 8, seven remained in approximately the same area they were fitted whereas one made a 10 km trip to another part of the lake and remained there. 

I don't think it would be healthy for a species to remain in one area for one reason or another (food, environment) and evolution takes care of that by having some of the population move around. Maybe there's a dominant remain gene, a recessive relocate gene, genetic mutations or even social pressures for some creatures causing them to move away. Meaning if something should befall the main population in their geographic area then the certain segment that changed their address will improve the species survival rate. 
Genetic diversity would also be beneficial. Nomadic members of a population will have the chance to spread their DNA elsewhere. Don't think it is unusual for the birds and I'll wager most if not all species contain elements of their population that seek out other worlds, to go where no seagull has gone before.

Throughout last winter I had a Red Breasted Towhee visit my bird feeders. These birds go south for the winter. However this one stayed. When I asked a member of the local Nature Club I was told this was rare but not 100% uncommon. The bird obviously survived. So I assume the opposite is also true, one stays and the rest go. Evolution testing the waters?

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[...] I don't think it would be healthy for a species to remain in one area for one reason or another (food, environment) and evolution takes care of that by having some of the population move around. [...] Genetic diversity would also be beneficial. [...] Don't think it is unusual for the birds and I'll wager most if not all species contain elements of their population that seek out other worlds, to go where no seagull has gone before.

Throughout last winter I had a Red Breasted Towhee visit my bird feeders. These birds go south for the winter. However this one stayed. When I asked a member of the local Nature Club I was told this was rare but not 100% uncommon. The bird obviously survived. So I assume the opposite is also true, one stays and the rest go. Evolution testing the waters?

Humans introduced changes could make it possible for certain birds to tentatively explore staying behind.

Not being cyclic migrators, Northern Cardinals were once ironically rare in the topmost "north". Yet they gradually spread into upper states, Canada, and elsewhere. Although an attempt is made to attribute that largely to non-artificial biological dispersal and just more warming centuries adding distance from Ice Age restrictions, the timing seems too coincidental with the practices and landscape alterations that came with European settlements.

Northern Cardinal (book), by Gary Ritchison: Over the past hundred years, cardinals have greatly expanded their range. In 1886, cardinals were found only infrequently north of the Ohio River. By 1895, their range extended to the Great Lakes and, by 1910, extended into southern Ontario and the southern Hudson River valley. The first report of cardinals in southern Ontario was in 1896, and they remained rare until about 1910. Cardinal populations in the northeastern United States began increasing dramatically in the 1940s and 1950s. Cardinals first nested in Connecticut around 1943 and in eastern Massachusetts in 1958. In New York, cardinals were breeding in only two of sixty-two counties in 1914, but they were breeding in fifty-nine counties by the early 1970s. Cardinals' expansion west and northwest has generally followed the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and their tributaries. For example, as of 1934, cardinals were common only in the southern half of Iowa and along the Mississippi and Missouri River valleys. Similarly, cardinals were largely confined to the southeastern portion of Minnesota in 1936. Since the 1930s, cardinals have extended their range across most of Iowa and Minnesota.

Tees and other vegetation along rivers probably provided food and cover for dispersing cardinals. Much of the expansion to the northeast and northwest appears to be the result of dispersal by young cardinals. Such movement by young birds from their birth sites to breeding locations is common and is referred to as natal dispersal. Dispersal does not, however, always result in range expansion. Several factors may have contributed to the successful range expansion of cardinals, including increases in mean annual temperature in the northern portions of their range. Also contributing may have been changes in habitat. Cardinals typically prefer small trees and shrubs (edge habitat), and land-use practices in the Northeast over the last several decades have provided more of this habitat. For example, abandoned agricultural land becomes overgrown with small trees and shrubs, at least for several years, and provides good habitat for cardinals. Also, urban and especially suburban areas often develop better vegetative cover over time, providing suitable habitat for cardinals. Increased food availability could also be a factor. Millions of people are now feeding birds in North America, and it is likely that this supply of food, especially in northern areas, has contributed to the range expansion of cardinals.

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