[CINC] WW IPCO Islander 10Aug11 (Western Gull)

[Bernardo Alps]

Hi Ken.

This is what Birds of North America Online, http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/174, says about the main food sources of the Western Gull: 

“A generalist predator on both pelagic and intertidal marine invertebrates and fishes; also eggs, chicks, and adults of other seabirds and eggs and young of conspecifics and congeners. An opportunistic scavenger on fish, carrion, and human refuse.”

Most gulls are very aggressive and will take any bird that is injured, sick or otherwise incapacitated, even birds that are larger than the gull. The guillemot was probably a fledgling that had just become independent from its parents but was not yet fully able to flee or defend itself, predators have an uncanny ability to detect that.

Take care,

Bernardo