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Inside This Issue
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The Joy of Doing Good
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Aromatherapy Secrets for Seniors That Actually Work
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A Dramatic Change for Droopy Lids
Precision Care for Aging Skin
Hot Honey-Infused Feta Chicken
No Ocean? No Problem! The Truth About Suburban Seagulls
FROM SHORE TO STORE What Are Those Seagulls Doing in the Parking Lot?
If you walk through any suburban mall parking lot these days, you may encounter one of nature’s puzzles: Why are seagulls hanging out here? With no oceans nearby, no beaches, or no enticing seaside picnics, what attracts an ocean bird to a retail plaza? For many of the 50 species of seagulls, the name is a misnomer. While many species do stick to the coasts, a large number, including a species known as the ring-billed gull, are just as happy living inland, especially in suburban parking lots! These gulls enjoy picking up human leftovers wherever they land, and shoppers exiting with mall food often leave an appetizing trail.
and “dedicated feeders” who regularly drove to mall parking lots and served flocks of birds en masse by dumping big loads of bread and other food!
While the gulls weren’t above dumpster diving, they preferred to await food deliveries from “their”
humans. The scientists concluded that humans’ deliberate mass feedings encouraged the mass gull gatherings at malls around the country.
Also, parking lots resemble the birds’ natural habitats in some ways. Gulls dislike having anything obstruct their flight path overhead or getting in the way. Various species will flock to almost any kind of open space, from baseball fields to landfills.
But gulls aren’t craving just any food scraps. When scientists in Massachusetts studied suburban flocks of ring-billed gulls roosting on a drinking-water reservoir, they discovered the birds flocked during the day to a nearby shopping mall to eat.
Maybe that’s so they can dive-bomb picnickers below and swipe your toddler’s hot dog, or snatch that piece of pizza out of your hand. And while many dedicated feeders believe the gulls need their help to get enough to eat, scientists say that is just another trick these savvy birds play on us humans! They’re actually fully capable of foraging for themselves.
Surprisingly, the gulls weren’t satisfied to scavenge for rubbish in trash cans and dumpsters.
They were waiting patiently for humans to feed them deliberately . Scientists divided these bird-feeding humans into two groups: “casual feeders” who would toss a french fry out of the car window for the birds,
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