European Herring Gull

The Herring Gull is a glider. It scours the coast looking for anything edible. It’s an uncertain existence, because the amount of food can vary considerably.

Wherever possible, gulls hitch a lift with the wind, which is almost always blowing on the coast. Herring gulls benefit from humans: they follow ferries and fishing boats and hang around in harbours. They first nested in the dune areas. From the 1980's, however, herring gulls left in droves from the dunes to the city to breed there. Probably the city was a more secure nesting place for them. From the late 1960's the fox namely appeared in the Dutch dunes and that is the natural enemy of the herring gull. In the city there is also enough food. They nest there on the roofs of houses and sometimes become a nuisance.