We were lucky last Wednesday (June 3) when we visited Brooklin’s Naskeag Point. Although it was foggy with intermittent rain, we got this image of three Great Black-Backed Gulls, each in a different position – it’s like a field guide illustration.
Great Black-Backs are the world’s largest gulls, attaining lengths of almost 2 ½ feet, with a black-topped wingspan of more than 5 feet. When they flash those huge wings, it can be very intimidating to the smaller gulls and other shore birds.
In fact, these birds are beach bullies. They openly steal their neighbors’ food and, as if that weren’t bad enough, they eat their neighbors’ eggs and young. Nonetheless, from what we’ve seen, eagles, ospreys, and great blue herons don’t seem to think that these black-backed bullies are so great and ignore them. (Brooklin, Maine)