Why Gulls Are Great Parents,in Six Paintings

Artwork by Lauren Richelieu

June 19, 2025

Welcome to a Gull Nest

So much of the time, gulls get a bad rap—people may find them noisy, messy, or even devious. (Not to mention, they can be hard to identify, though we can help with that).

But spend some time watching gulls and you’ll uncover another side. They’re beautiful, agile, clever, and resourceful.

And they are great parents: fiercely protecting their young. Gulls typically form long-lasting pair bonds, reuniting with the same mate year after year. Both parents share equally in chick-raising duties, and taking alternating shifts to ensure that they almost never leave the nest unguarded.

Nesting Together

Most gulls nest on the ground in coastal areas. To gain protection from earthbound predators, they often nest on islands or sheer cliffs, or in sprawling colonies where adults can band together to harry intruders. But nesting together can have its perils, too. Gulls are constantly on the lookout for unguarded nests, and may snatch away their neighbors’ eggs or chicks. To combat this, each gull pair staunchly defends a small territory around its nest from all intruders.

Most gulls choose nest sites in soft soil, sand, or camouflaged under lush beach vegetation. They make a scrape in the sand and then line it with a loose collection of twigs, grass, and feathers.

An exception to this rule is the dainty Bonaparte’s Gull, which regularly nests in loose colonies in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska, catching aerial insects above their treetop homes.

Making Their Voices Heard

Gulls benefit by nesting close to each other—but not too close. To keep their neighbors straight on territorial boundaries, and to establish who’s who, gulls have several distinctive vocalizations and displays. In the main image above, an American Herring Gull is beginning a “long call” display. Given by many species with only slight variations, the long call is the classic screeching, cawing sound heard on many waterfronts around the world. It typically begins with the gull leaning forward, head pointing toward the ground. As the call builds, the gull usually throws its head back and points its bill at the sky (as seen with the Western Gull in the inset, above). Long calls often signal territorial dominance and may be given after one bird has displaced another for a prime spot.

Disappearing Act

Newly hatched gull chicks are fluffy, speckled, and brownish. Lying on the ground among sand and low vegetation, they blend in so well that they can be almost totally invisible—one reason to keep your distance from a gull colony to avoid accidentally stepping on a nest.

Gulls incubate their eggs for 3–7 weeks, depending on species. When the chicks hatch, they are “semi-precocial,” able to open their eyes and walk almost as soon as they hatch. But they’re still reliant on their parents for food and protection. The adults will continue feeding the young for at least another 4–6 weeks after hatching, and may continue feeding them even after the young have learned to fly on their own.

In many gull species, breeding adults have a red dot on the bill. It’s not just a fashion statement, it’s a prompt. When an adult returns to feed the youngster, the red spot gives the chicks a target to orient toward before the adult regurgitates their meal.