Red Herrings
Kerry Williams
Communications Officer – Conservation (she/her)
Love them or loathe them, the Herring Gull is a Sussex icon. Synonymous with football chants and seafront chip raids, there is far more to this charismatic species than meets the eye.
Opportunist omnivores
The ultimate recycler, Herring Gulls have a diet varying far from their preferred marine prey of fish and crabs, including carrion, young birds, fruit, seeds, small mammals, and leftover kebabs. Overfishing has sorely depleted their natural food sources at sea, and these adaptable birds will source what they can to make ends meet.
Sound of the seaside
Despite their noisy neighbour reputation, Herring Gull language is quite complex. The ‘long call’ is the most iconic, often accompanied with an almighty, non-apologetic head throw. This is an ownership call, laying claim to a nest or feeding site. There are also varying alarm calls; a yapping main signal, and another of much softer, bubbling, low intensity.
Devoted parents
Each year, hundreds of spotty pom poms appear on Sussex rooftops, vying for their parents' attention and procured street delicacies. The red spot on the adults otherwise bright yellow beak is a cue to the chicks; they tap this to nag the parent to regurgitate food. Herring Gulls’ often maligned territorial behaviour is a trait of their unrelenting efforts to protect their young.
At risk
The apparent abundance of these magnificent marine stalwarts in our urban environments, matched with their undoubted resilience, gives the impression that Herring Gulls are doing just fine. But don’t be fooled. Due to a dwindling at-sea population caused by threats including overfishing and pollution, the species is in national decline and on the UK Conservation Red List.
As with many of our urban wildlife dwellers, human-Herring Gull relationships can be fraught. But next time those raucous cries wake you at 5am, or your ice cream is floored by a pair of pink foamy feet, spare a moment to consider why. Herring Gulls are just as much in need of our help as our demure, softly-spoken birds. Are they brash, or just misunderstood? Either way, it's hard to imagine a Sussex without them.
Comments
I enjoyed reading about herring gulls & did not realise how much they are struggling. All our wildlife is suffering & I’m at a loss as what we can do. The more building & swallowing up our green land & open spaces is at an all time high & I blame the governments not just these in office now but all of them.
Thank you for the story 🌸
20 Nov 2025 13:25:00
So sad that they are in decline. I get annoyed when people who live on the coast malign them. They were there first! If you don’t like them, move in landlord. It would be heartbreaking if the coasts became devoid of their cries.
20 Nov 2025 13:33:00
There is irrefutable evidence that ultra processed foods cause a wide range of health issues in human beings. As herring gulls are having to resort to eating whatever they find on the streets, which is probably ultra processed, are we seeing evidence of the effects of these foods on the health, lifespan, chick numbers etc in them?
20 Nov 2025 13:43:00
Sussex Wildlife Trust:
Hi Sarah - we're not aware of specific evidence about this, but it's an interesting question. We'll keep a lookout.
I love Herring Gulls.. Be kind to them and they will be polite and loyal – be cruel to them or threaten their chicks and they will not forget your face. Not in a good way. They’re extremely in intelligent, resourceful, amazing flyers and csn live 20 years.
20 Nov 2025 15:40:00
I think they are beautiful and highly intelligent and resourceful. I get very cross if children are allowed to chase them. Ann
20 Nov 2025 16:28:00
We regularly have Herring Gulls (young and adult) to our bird table in our garden at Haywards Heath. Our gulls are very well behaved and don’t take our chips/food. They will often (not always) displace other birds like jackdaws & pigeons. In fact, if they approached at the bird table they will fly off and we can steal their food (but we don’t)!
20 Nov 2025 16:45:00
Growing up in Rye in the 1950s, the sound of herring gulls takes me back to my childhood, with their cries announcing that we were pulling into Hastings station on the train. People need to be educated about why herring gulls steal their chips and food, and take more care instead of complaining about them.
20 Nov 2025 16:50:00
We regularly have Herring Gulls (young and adult) to our bird table in our garden at Haywards Heath. Our gulls are very well behaved and never take our chips/food etc. They will often (not always) displace other birds on the table like jackdaws & pigeons but are not aggressive. But if they are approached at the bird table they will fly off and we can steal their food (but we don’t)! Having webbed feet doesn’t stop them perching on non-obvious places e.g. the round pergola cross bars and upper shed roof.
20 Nov 2025 17:02:00
I have a visiting pair daily for about 20 years. The first male died but the second male has become a very good parent. They bought up 3 chicks last year and two this year. I know it is not a good idea to feed them but after so much time can l stop!
20 Nov 2025 17:54:00
I have 2 separate Herring Gulls with one foot and half a leg only who have been coming to feed in my seaside garden- their resilience to survive such devastating injuries is impressive. I love these birds and really welcome them into my garden even if my neighbours don’t!
20 Nov 2025 17:59:00
We have a small flock now living amongst the housing estate of Broadfield in Crawley. I think it started during the pandemic when someone started putting slices of bread down on the grass verge for them. Then there was only about 5 or 6 birds now- I’d estimate treble that number or maybe more. I’d love to know wher3 they roost at night.
20 Nov 2025 18:12:00
There is an article in The Conversation about gulls that may be worth looking at. It claims that shouting at gulls is effective. Hardly surprising, to my mind, as they shout at each other. As I commented in TC, I once had a shouting match with a gull over an empty plastic bag. However, maybe the best way to get a clear message across is to spread your wings and squawk. I find that gulls have become sufficiently conditioned to humans that they usually do not see eye-contact as a threat indeed use it to communicate. I always aim to be polite and generally find it is reciprocated. You appear to know already that a gull is a bird, but it is worth reminding everyone that a ‘seagull’ is not a bird but a footballer.
20 Nov 2025 18:53:00
If they can be trained to wash the cars after them I can tolerate.
20 Nov 2025 19:23:00
I’m one of f the despised individuals that actually feed a pair and have done for18 Plus years, I have very little leftovers as the Gulls eat it, so it doesn’t go to waste nor landfill, they only have one chick a year and occasionally it doesn’t survive!
If left alone their lifespan is 20 years alas most of them are killed before dying of natural causes.
There is nothing more graceful than seeing them take flight from the kitchen window!
20 Nov 2025 19:25:00
This year, the gulls on my flat roof have managed to keep a surviving chick. Yes, they can be noisy and demanding but I think it’s important to help a species, that we on the whole are driving to extinction.
For the Gull lovers out there – yes, they’ll pretty much each anything but they love 😍flavour! Cheeses; your bacon fat; fish skin; pastes on your bread you toss.
I know so many unreasonably despise the natural habitants of the areas we are taking over; but for perspective, in the 2 years I have been fortunate to see my nesting gulls have offspring, 1 of 4 have survived.
20 Nov 2025 20:23:00
Very fond of gulls who are regular visitors and welcome in our garden.
20 Nov 2025 20:29:00
They can try to ‘pinch’ my ice cream anytime they like!
21 Nov 2025 01:07:00
I have 2 young birds who wait for me to appear before shouting, demanding to be fed puppy mix biscuits. They have recently been joined, to their disgust, by a younger gull which tries to treat me as its’ mum and calls for food as soon as I appear, with that whiny, ‘feed me mum’ call the babies have.
21 Nov 2025 01:19:00
I love them. I have 2 regular visitors since moving into my house 8 years ago & yes I feed them. They know when I’m feeding my dog & tap on my conservatory roof to remind me they are there 😂 or sit & stare at me through the window when I’m eating my breakfast. One of them is really brave & comes down while I am putting the food in their dish. But they never try & steal our food if we are eating outdoors, we have an understanding 🥰
21 Nov 2025 07:46:00
I marvel at their aerobatics hanging on the wind in a social group communicating between their various family or friends. We look forward to the regular pair nesting opposite and rearing their family of 3. Sadly we can’t always confirm the survival of the young. However to give them all a chance we feed them once or twice on the cheap wet tinned dog food from our local supermarket. They know where tyhey are welcomed and appreciated.
21 Nov 2025 09:33:00
For a number of years Herring Gulls nested on the roof of a neighbouring house. On year they raised 3 chicks, none of which could fly. I asked WRAS for help as on youngster became grounded in our garden and foxes live locally and this bird could not fly. Shortly afterwards another became stranded on a low cat patrolled roof, leaving one chick for th parents to feed. Never a strong flyer, he stayed around the neighbourhood. Late in life, I realised that as scavengers, there was little for them to eat. They combed a local field for earthworms but all the waste tips have closed, and been sealed, bins are used and sealed bags. I realised that the lone survivor “Meep” could not get worms when the ground was frozen or dry in drought. Since then he has become my food processor of cooked food. He successfully reared a chick but finds sharing food difficult with both his mate and his chick! I gather they can live for 50 years ie out live me.
21 Nov 2025 20:06:00
Lots of people i know cant stand seagulls. When I was a child living in Hastings. I would constantly hear the “squawking” of the seagulls; and memories of running up the garden ducking from the parent seagulls protecting their young onnthe neighbours roof. Now in Eastbourne. Hardly see them. We have a couple that visit our garden. We happily give food to the wildlife. Sometimes one seagull knocks on our patio door to say they would like some food. I hear all the tome dont feed them. I aways say because they have no food, seas are over fished.
22 Nov 2025 10:09:00
I love them. I have 2 regular visitors since moving into my house 8 years ago & yes I feed them. They know when I’m feeding my dog & tap on my conservatory roof to remind me they are there 😂 or sit & stare at me through the window when I’m eating my breakfast. One of them is really brave & comes down while I am putting the food in their dish. But they never try & steal our food if we are eating outdoors, we have an understanding 🥰
23 Nov 2025 09:59:00
I think they are beautiful and highly intelligent and resourceful. I get very cross if children are allowed to chase them. Ann
24 Nov 2025 09:09:00
I think they are beautiful and highly intelligent and resourceful. I get very cross if children are allowed to chase them. Ann
25 Nov 2025 15:16:00
a few yearsgo I found 2 baby herring gulls in distress, on checking withy neighbours I learned that their mother had been impaled on spikes on a roof, she had to eat her leg to be freed & then died but not before she led them to my garden, Since then I have regularly fed & tended them & this year they in turn had young so you can imagine I am rather busy! They call me at very particular times for the 3 meals daily& even boss my cat, so he nows stops other birds pinching their food! Sorry, but I love these birds thy have fantastic personallities!
25 Nov 2025 15:33:00
So many people hate the gulls which makes me cross. We have had a pair of nesting gulls on our neighbours’ roof every year, apart from last year but I was pleased to see them back this year. They seem to realise that we mean them no harm as we have bird feeders in the garden and I have never been dive bombed by any of them, even when a fledgling went for a little walk on our garage roof. One fo my earliest memories when we moved to Hastings was the sight of a Herring Gull landing on our garden fence. Beautiful birds and it saddens me that they are in such decline. Education is what is needed as well as more controls on fishing.
25 Nov 2025 19:41:00
I love them and yes they are a very misunderstood species…. they are also stunning to look at and highly intelligent except for the fact they nest in roofs in quite unfavourable locations…hence another reason for their decline I’m sure. They do need our help!
27 Nov 2025 06:22:00
I love them. I have 2 regular visitors since moving into my house 8 years ago & yes I feed them. They know when I’m feeding my dog & tap on my conservatory roof to remind me they are there 😂 or sit & stare at me through the window when I’m eating my breakfast. One of them is really brave & comes down while I am putting the food in their dish. But they never try & steal our food if we are eating outdoors, we have an understanding 🥰
01 Dec 2025 20:12:00
I love them. I have 2 regular visitors since moving into my house 8 years ago & yes I feed them. They know when I’m feeding my dog & tap on my conservatory roof to remind me they are there 😂 or sit & stare at me through the window when I’m eating my breakfast. One of them is really brave & comes down while I am putting the food in their dish. But they never try & steal our food if we are eating outdoors, we have an understanding 🥰
02 Dec 2025 16:57:00
I love them. I have 2 regular visitors since moving into my house 8 years ago & yes I feed them. They know when I’m feeding my dog & tap on my conservatory roof to remind me they are there 😂 or sit & stare at me through the window when I’m eating my breakfast. One of them is really brave & comes down while I am putting the food in their dish. But they never try & steal our food if we are eating outdoors, we have an understanding 🥰
23 Dec 2025 07:22:00