Close Encounters of the BIRD Kind

It's not often that I get to snap of pic of birds in flight from ABOVE so this was a perfect opportunity. This photo was taken from the 9th deck of our cruise ship while it was docked at Cozumel, Mexico. The inquisitive seagulls didn't take long to find the ship and begin looking for handouts. We were actually inside, looking through the window, but I'm hoping that no passengers on the outside deck actually fed them any human table scraps. Not the proper food for a bird.

It's amazing to me how these wild creatures learn to beg food in a manner totally outside of their normal behavior. In fact, seagulls are very clever creatures. They learn and pass on learned behavior to their offspring.

Here are a couple of their clever tricks:

A group stamping on the ground together to imitate rainfall - which lures earthworms to the surface for easy hunting.

Carrying hard shell creatures high in the air and dropping them on rocks to crack to shells.

Hovering over bridges to absorb the heat radiating off the paved road.

And, as I mentioned, begging from their human counterparts.

This fellow followed us up and down the beach waiting for us to offer (or drop) some morsel of food. He'd walk right up to us with no apparent fear. And there were always others nearby watching to see if he scored any treats. If so, they were ready to close in and fight for their share.

We had lunch at an open-air cafe on the Hollywood Beach Boardwalk a gull (could have been the same one that followed us on the beach!) was right at our table, intelligent black eyes speaking loud and clear. If I wasn't so busy enjoying some red snapper I would have snapped his picture as well.

Hollywood Beach has the honor of being one of Florida's beaches to be designated Blue Wave Beaches from the Clean Beaches Council in Washington DC. This indicates that it is among the nation's cleanest, safest and most user-friendly beaches. There are signs everywhere on the Boardwalk asking the tourists to NOT feed the birds. It's not healthy for them and it encourages the begging behavior.

Another interesting fact about Seagulls is that they are one of the few animals that can drink both fresh and salt water. Seagulls have a special pair of glands right above their eyes which is specifically designed to flush the salt from their systems through openings in the bill.

Seagulls are also nurturing parents, where both the female and the male care for their young. Young gulls gather and play together in a nursery flock that is guarded over by a few adult males. Much like human children, by playing together they learn the life skills to apply to adulthood. And the lifespan of a seagull is 10 - 15 years.

I hope you've enjoyed learning a few facts about our feathered friends, the Seagull!