Here you see one of our resident adult Herring Gulls. The adults of this species always seem so well-tailored; they’re perhaps the best-groomed scavengers we have.
Of course, these gulls (Larus [argentatus] smithsonianus) are commonly called Herring Gulls because herring are one of their favorite foods, but herring are in serious decline.
Moreover, and contrary to wide-spread myth, Herring Gulls are not very good fishermen, and often need more calories than they can catch swimming or diving in water. They often have to rely on scavenging and stealing to survive. It seems that they will eat just about anything dead or alive that looks edible, can be caught, and can fit into a beak whole or in bites.
While not an expert fishing in water, the Herring Gull is one of the deftest sea birds when flying. It “is a master of the air,” according to the renowned Edward Howe Forbush, who continued: “It can fly forward or backward, veer gracefully in any direction, soar with stiffened pinions or shoot downward like an arrow, sail on steady wing against the wind and perform numberless evolutions with grace and ease.”
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on July 23 and 27, 2023.)