Some of the local inhabitants in Kristiansand, Norway

Summer means sun and varm days, food eaten in the park or on the beach. It is also the time when seagulls have chicks. We constantly hear people complain about aggressive seagulls. They scream and fly down over our heads. I think there is a misunderstanding here. We perceive them as aggressive and their closeness as an attack. We talk about them with words like naughty and when they snatch food from us, they steal. Have we completely misunderstood the seagulls?

What they do is protecting their young ones. They are only showing care, as any mother or parent would do. This summer I saw a small chick running back and forth across the road several times, while the adults flew right over. Unfortunately, it was run over by a car. What I heard was probably both the mother and the flock's screaming as they flew over the dead chick. That was heartbreaking!

When they snatch food from our lunch box, is that stealing or surving? Seagulls have come to the cities to find food. Many of their habitats have been destroyed by humans. We build, pollute and overfishing the ocean, so that the otherwise secure food supply is gradually disappearing. A couple of years ago, I read an article that described quite well how and why seagulls have moved to the cities. They have had to do in order to survive.

Every year I read articles and statements where seagulls are harassed. Now I don't know much about seagulls in other countries, but in Norway, eight out of ten seagull species are on the list of endangered birds. As many as 40 percent of all bird species in our country are now endangered.

Two young chicks in the city

Maybe the solution is a little more tolerance? The seagulls need places to nest and also accessible food. Maybe we then will be able to exist alongside without too many conflicts. Interestingly, gulls' reactions are shaped by human behavior. If we behave aggressively, they will become more approachable. But if we leave them alone, they will understand that they do not need to be afraid and therefore also behave less aggressively.

In the center of Kristiansand, trash cans with seagulls on them have been set up. The text is intended to educate residents to actually use them! But the left overs the gulls can find here, provides a source of food. The lyrics and the statement from the painted seagulls: "Thanks for the help, it's tiring to clean the city alone". Another says: "Yeah, you're out cleaning the city too". The last gull is saying: "Oh! where did the food go!"

Knowledge of the seagulls and watching the young chick being killed, has changed my attitude, even thouh I can feel a bit annoyed when they wake me up too early in the morning! But then I have chosen to think of it as a part of nature and just a different noice than trafic and machinery on my neighboring building site.