Herring Gull Larus argentatus
Regular and common (but perhaps declining) winter visitor. In recent years, small numbers have begun breeding on buildings in Birmingham and Worcester.
Herring Gull is perhaps the archetypical gull. In the West Midlands Region it is principally a winter visitor, taking advantage of the easy feeding at refuse tips and the roost-sites provided by waters such as reservoirs and gravel-pits. It appears to be more dependent upon refuse tips for feeding than does Lesser Black-backed Gull, for example. Hence, changes in practices at landfill sites are likely to adversely affect numbers of Herring Gulls.
Conversely, in recent years small numbers have begun breeding on flat-roofed buildings in Birmingham and Worcester. Even larger numbers of Lesser Black-backs are also now breeding at these sites. As nesting gulls can be quite aggressive, there is public concern at this phenomenon. In the Bristol area, where roof-top nesting is well-established, there is now a recognised 'problem' and means of dispersing the gulls are being investigated.
Herring Gull is a numerous winter visitor to the region and is found in moderate to large numbers at all the major gull roosts. It remains a numerous species but there was evidence of a decline during the latter part of the 1970s and the 1980s compared with peak numbers recorded during the early 1970s. During that period peak counts included 5000 at Draycote Water (Warks), 4000 at Blithfield Reservoir (Staffs), 3500 at Chasewater in (Staffs) and 1000 in the Kingsbury area of the Warwickshire Tame Valley. Harrison et al. (1982) estimated that over 15000 were wintering in the region during the early 1970's but that this had declined to 10000-12000 by the end of the decade. Since that time, numbers at individual sites have varied (primarily reflecting activity at the nearest landfill sites) but the regional trend suggests relatively stable numbers during the 25 years up to 2010 (Table 1). Harrison & Harrison (2005) estimated that the regional wintering population was between 5000 and 8000 at the start of the current millenium. It will be interesting to see how numbers respond, now that new landfill operations are actively discouraged.
The five-yearly mean maximum counts at selected sites between 1986 and 2010 are presented in Table 1.
|5-year Mean||Draycote||Tame Valley||Westwood||Blithfield||Chasewater|
|1986 - 1990||1285||590||435||3120||2125|
|1991 - 1995||1955||325||390||inadequate data||1625|
|1996 - 2000||inadequate data||265||340||inadequate data||2200|
|2001 - 2005||1720||250||565||inadequate data||2180|
|2006 - 2010||2000||530||895||inadequate data||2600|
Five-yearly mean maximum counts of Herring Gulls at selected sites in the West Midlands Region, 1986 - 2010.
Ringing studies (Green 1977, 1978; Stewart 1997) and field studies (Hume 1978) indicate that, as well as British argenteus, a significant proportion of the Herring Gulls wintering in the West Midlands Region are of Scandinavian origin i.e. nominate argentatus. This is supported by the monthly profile of numbers (Dean 1987). Ringing studies in northern Britain (Coulson et al. 1984) and in southeast England (Stanley et al. 1981) have indicated that nominate argentatus arrives on the wintering grounds later in the season than argenteus. British Herring Gulls tend to winter relatively close to their breeding grounds, and there is significant occupation of wintering sites from August onwards (Stanley et al. 1981). By contrast, significant numbers of Scandinavian argentatus do not arrive in Britain before November, and reach a peak in January; dispersal occurs rapidly in late January and February.
For further details see 'Seasonality of Herring Gulls in the West Midlands region', from which the following figure indicating the monthly distribution of Herring Gulls in the region is taken.
Fig. 1. Half-monthly distribution of Herring Gulls Larus argentatus: (a) right-hand scale and line: mean counts at Blithfield Reservoir, Staffordshire, 1974/75-83/84; (b) left-hand scale and blocks: summated counts in the West Midlands Region, 1970-84.
Thus, the characteristics of the monthly profile - few before November, a considerable peak in January, and a rapid dispersal during February - are close to those for populations known to include a significant argentatus component.
The first breeding record for the region involved a nest with two eggs discovered at a tip near Bromsgrove, Worcs, in 1969. For some years this remained an isolated breeding record. In 1993 a pair nested unsuccessfully at Throckmorton. Between 1999 and 2002 one to three pairs nested on roof-tops in Worcester and this increased to between 20 and 25 pairs between 2003 and 2005. A few pairs have been present during the breeding season at roof-top sites in central Birmingham (where one of two pairs raised one chick in 2005) and in the area of Bromford and Tyburn - areas where Lesser Black-backed Gulls are now breeding. Roof-top nesting is causing some concern in the Bristol and Gloucester areas, where numbers are now significant, so the situation in Birmingham will no doubt receive fairly close monitoring (Peter Rock in litt.)
An investigation of the gulls nesting on roof-tops within the Birmingham boundary was conducted by Jim Winsper between 2008 and 2011and the results are presented in:
Roof-top nesting gulls within the Birmingham boundary
Seasonality of Herring Gull in the West Midlands Region.
Wintering Glaucous, Iceland and Herring Gull in the midlands.
| Laughing |
Ring-billed | Common |
Lesser Black-backed |