Gull Behavior

[robyoung]

Sitting outside a pub in Aberdyfi we saw this herring gull repeatedly flying over and dropping what appeared to be a crab on to the beach near to the harbour. Is this behaviour unusual ?

[IanF]

It's normal behaviour. I've seen them do this with crabs and mussels to break them open to get at the juicy bits. The brighter ones drop them on to stony beaches, promenades and car parks

[Ted Parker]

Hi Rob,

A number of bird species use this method to crack open the hard outer cases of prey items.  Perhaps the most famous exponent is the Lammergeier, which drops animal bones from a great height to crack them open to retrieve the internal bone marrow.  Hooded and Carrion Crows also do this with shellfish and over the past few years I have seen a Rough-legged Buzzard at Sleddale drop snails to break open their shells (I'm not sure whether the latter behaviour has ever been noted before).

Ted Parker