City birds or sea birds? A walk along the waterfront in Kristiansand, Norway

Sometimes, when I am on my way home from work, I choose to walk along the waterfront of Kristiansand. It's a varied one-kilometre stretch. This part includes a couple of parks, the guest port for sailing ships, an old castle and a couple of sandy beaches. On this specific walk, I noticed quite a few seagulls. When sitting on a bench in one of the parks, a couple of birds were resting in the gras, only a few meters from my bench. I think some of them were young, born in the spring (brownish). I think there might be different species among those I met. In Norway we have as many as 23 species. They are well-known birds we seem to see everywhere.

Most often we associate seagulls with the sea. We do find most of them along the coast and at sea, but we can also find them in the mountainou areas. We know that because we have sources that goes back to around 1800. The book called « Skandinavisk fauna» (Scandinavian fauna) from 1858 is one of these. Seagulls have been present in the mountains long before extensive building of cabins took place, and they got access to human waste.

As I kept walking, I met more seagulls than I could count. It did cross my mind how adaptable these birds are. They are not only seabirds. They are city birds as well. I know that many people react negative to seagulls in our streets. They find them annoing. They can sit on a roof or fly around you, screaming loudly. Especially during summer, when sitting outside with food, you will soon have a crowd of birds around you, waiting for you to look the other way. Annoing?

During the spring when I walk to my office, I often see the chicks sitting in the street. The parents are close by, screaming and flying over my head if I get too close. Seagulls lay their eggs on the rooftops. The chicks will «fall out» and land on the street. This is normal behaviour. The chicks will leave shortly after hatching and jump down to the street. The chicks walk around, but the parents will always find them. They will feed them. Even though many people see seagulls as a bird that should not live in the city, we cannot keep them away. I think we must remember that most seagulls’ nests outside the cities. Those who do live in the city do an incredible job as sanitation workers. They remove efficiently organic waste. Without the birds, we might experience and increased populations of rats. I certainly prefer the seagulls….

I have heard people talk about seagulls as dangerous. If we try to understand their behaviour, we might be able to live side by side. We do share our environment with birds. In fact, we also must remember that we are occupying more and more of the natural habitat for these birds. Including wildlife in general. We do share this planet. Seagulls belong to one of the most endangered groups of animals in the world. One of the species in Norway has reduced its stock by around 75 % in just a few decades.