Why Seagulls are the Noisiest among Birds?

A seagull picks up crumbs near the harbour in Sydney. Photo: AFP
A seagull picks up crumbs near the harbour in Sydney. Photo: AFP
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Why Seagulls are the Noisiest among Birds?

A seagull picks up crumbs near the harbour in Sydney. Photo: AFP
A seagull picks up crumbs near the harbour in Sydney. Photo: AFP

Once the domain of the seaside, seagulls are becoming more commonplace inland now – with the number of urban gull colonies in the UK having doubled over the past couple of decades.

Councils as far as 40 miles from the sea have been warning about the birds in recent years, which are believed to be attracted to urban areas because of the abundance of food waste. Aside from being potentially aggressive, they can also be pretty noisy, even more so at this time of year. Just why are seagulls so loud? There are a number of reasons why seagulls make a whole lot of noise – although one of the main factors is to protect their nests from potential predators. Seagulls are, for obvious reasons, very protective of their young, and will make as much noise as possible to ward folks off their nests, according to The Metro.

Since they tend to build these in high-up environments, they can often be close to roofs or near the windows of houses, bringing them into closer contact with people, which can add to the din as they attempt to ward intruders off.

Meanwhile, their offspring also add to the din, calling to their parents to be fed, resulting in the adult gulls trying to gather as much food as they can for their young – which in turn can lead to them becoming more vicious as well as making a lot of noise. Seagulls can be particularly loud at this time of year because their chicks are getting ready to leave the nest. It is also mating season for the birds – which runs from April until September – as well as nesting season, which begins a month earlier.

Seagulls tend to return to the same nesting site every year, with pairs of birds building nests from twigs, grass, straw, paper and anything else they can find – while they will also mate several times a year to ensure success in producing a new brood.

Gulls normally lay eggs around April or May time, which hatch a few weeks later – and while their young normally take a few years to begin breeding their own families, they tend to return to the same nesting site when they do.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) says on its website that the best course of action with a seagull's nest is to leave it alone – while the best way of discouraging gulls from nesting near your property is to reduce available food sources and attractiveness of nesting sites.



Japan Urges 200,000 People to Evacuate Due to Heavy Rain

Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water. (AFP)
Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water. (AFP)
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Japan Urges 200,000 People to Evacuate Due to Heavy Rain

Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water. (AFP)
Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water. (AFP)

Nearly 200,000 people in western Japan were urged to evacuate on Saturday as authorities warned of landslides and floods, while the remnants of a tropical storm trickle over the country.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said "warm, moist air... was causing heavy rainfall with thunderstorms in western Japan" partly due to Kong-rey, which was downgraded to an extratropical low-pressure system from a typhoon.

The city of Matsuyama "issued the top-level warning, urging 189,552 residents in its 10 districts to evacuate and immediately secure safety", a city official told AFP.

While the evacuation was not mandatory, Japan's highest-level warning is typically issued when it is extremely likely that some kind of disaster has already occurred.

Forecasters warned that landslides and floods could affect western Japan on Saturday and eastern Japan on Sunday.

Due to rain, Shinkansen bullet trains were briefly suspended between Tokyo and southern Fukuoka region in the morning before resuming on a delayed schedule.

Kong-rey smashed into Taiwan on Thursday as one of the biggest storms to hit the island in decades.

It claimed at least three lives and injured 690 people, according to the National Fire Agency, which added a migrant worker death to the toll on Saturday.

The storm knocked out power to 957,061 households, 27,781 of which were still in the dark as of Saturday.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.