Bird Watch: Seagulls

Here are a few pictures that my sisters and I took when we went for a walk around the lake uptown. This being Florida, there were plenty of seagulls to photograph. :)

"And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmanment of heaven."

Genesis 1:20

A few facts about Seagulls:

~Gulls are seabirds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns (family Sternidae), and more distantly to the waders, auks and skimmers. Most gulls belong to the large genus Larus. In common usage, members of various gull species are often called sea gulls or seagulls.

~Seagulls can drink both fresh and salt water. Most animals are unable to do this, but seagulls have a pair of glands above their eyes, specifically designed to flush the salt from their systems through openings in the bill. That is why you'll see seagulls near large bodies of water such as the Great Salk Lake where fresh water may be hard to find.

~Seagulls can live between 5 to 15 years depending on their environment and predators. The average is probably closer to 7 to 10 years. Some individual gulls have been known to live over 25 years.

~Some gulls migrate, especially ones in the northern parts of the world, such as Alaska. Like other migratory birds, they go south during the winter. The migratory patterns vary widely depending on where they reside in the summer, but they can travel thousands of miles to find better food sources.