Raw Bar
April 2nd, 2011
I was fascinated by the behavior of a pair of Ring-Billed Gulls at Riverain Park. They were foraging on some waterlogged land--where the river had flooded then receded--and picking out what looked at first like shiny black rocks.
The "shiny rocks" turned out to be some sort of small freshwater bivalves (mussels?). The fascinating part was when they picked these up and carried them over to dip them in the river--a behavior that reminded me of raccoons. They would sit the bivalves in shallow water and peck at them. My theory is that they were putting them in the water to encourage them to open. Then they pecked and pried them open wider, picked them back up and feasted on the contents.
There was a fair bit of cooperation and sharing between the two gulls--a mated pair, perhaps?
April 2nd, 2011
I was fascinated by the behavior of a pair of Ring-Billed Gulls at Riverain Park. They were foraging on some waterlogged land--where the river had flooded then receded--and picking out what looked at first like shiny black rocks.
The "shiny rocks" turned out to be some sort of small freshwater bivalves (mussels?). The fascinating part was when they picked these up and carried them over to dip them in the river--a behavior that reminded me of raccoons. They would sit the bivalves in shallow water and peck at them. My theory is that they were putting them in the water to encourage them to open. Then they pecked and pried them open wider, picked them back up and feasted on the contents.
There was a fair bit of cooperation and sharing between the two gulls--a mated pair, perhaps?
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Mike
April 3rd, 2011 at 7:54 am
Nice shots... I guess gulls aren't exactly shy and retiring sorts!
Suzanne
April 3rd, 2011 at 9:12 pm
Ring-Billed Gulls aren't, at least!
ilanikhan
April 3rd, 2011 at 9:11 am
Facinating! Great pics too :)
bastetschylde
April 3rd, 2011 at 10:51 am
I wonder how you get close without them running away, if these aren't closeups :-).
Suzanne
April 3rd, 2011 at 9:15 pm
Ring-Billed Gulls are the common urban gulls you see in parking lots, transit stations, the canal, etc. They are quite unafraid of humans. Of course the zoom lens helps, but I can't usually get closeups this close of other gull species.