# Are Gulls Edible **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2008, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848 "2008-11-15T12:14:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/1 "2008-11-15T12:14:54Z")
There are hundreds of these buggers flying and shitting all over the place (mostly on my car) and I got to wondering can they be eaten?. They’re big, fat and certainly look to have plenty of meat on their bones. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/2 "2008-11-15T12:37:17Z")
Of course. Starter link… [Google Answers: Eating Seagull](http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=465446) The poached seagull one is good for a laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/3 "2008-11-15T12:37:33Z")
IIRC from some survival training years back, all sea birds are edible. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/4 "2008-11-15T12:50:08Z")
There was a BBC documentary the other week about this very subject. It concerned the remote Scottish island of St Kilda which was populated till the 1920’s. One of their main source of food were sea-birds which they used to collect by abseiling down the cliffs. I am pretty sure that the residents of the Faeroe Islands also eat gulls. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/5 "2008-11-15T12:53:34Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > There was a BBC documentary the other week about this very subject. It concerned the remote Scottish island of St Kilda which was populated till the 1920’s. One of their main source of food were sea-birds which they used to collect by abseiling down the cliffs. I am pretty sure that the residents of the Faeroe Islands also eat gulls. [BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Cameras to give bird's eye view](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2933956.stm), from the page of links I listed above. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/6 "2008-11-15T18:07:03Z")
Are there any truly inedible birds? Sure, many might be unpalatable or just awkward to eat because of their size, but people pay good money to eat some really tiny ones. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/7 "2008-11-15T18:16:00Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > Are there any truly inedible birds? Sure, many might be unpalatable or just awkward to eat because of their size, but people pay good money to eat some really tiny ones. I’m not sure what would constitute “inedible”, unless the flesh was actually poisonous, or its consistency made it impossible to chew/swallow. Not an authoritative source, but I’ve read a humorous piece purporting to be a recipe for preparing cormorants, and implying that they are very unpalatable. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/8 "2008-11-15T18:20:02Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > There was a BBC documentary the other week about this very subject. It concerned the remote Scottish island of St Kilda which was populated till the 1920’s. One of their main source of food were sea-birds which they used to collect by abseiling down the cliffs. I am pretty sure that the residents of the Faeroe Islands also eat gulls. ? Are these flightless, brain-damaged birds that just perch around on cliffs all day waiting to be collected by slowly-descending humans ten times their size? ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/9 "2008-11-15T18:28:03Z")
With the inland seagulls I would be worried about contamination both parasite and chemical because they do seem to favour hanging about on landfill sites feeding on goodness knows what. Probably much better to get some nice coastal organic seagulls if you’re gonna try them. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/10 "2008-11-15T18:35:19Z")
> [@404 Clue Not Found](#): > > ? > > Are these flightless, brain-damaged birds that just perch around on cliffs all day waiting to be collected by slowly-descending humans ten times their size? I’m sure even the St Kildans had heard of nets. And eggs. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/11 "2008-11-15T18:39:59Z")
Warning, in case someone is actually serious about this. You would be breaking the [Migratory Bird Treaty Act](http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/intrnltr/mbta/mbtintro.html) by deliberately killing and eating a non-game bird (out of season, if that applies) native (i.e. not introduced) to North America. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/12 "2008-11-15T18:42:50Z")
> [@Struan](#): > > I’m sure even the St Kildans had heard of nets. And eggs. Do they “skyfish” there, like the Icelanders do for puffin? [Skyfishing for puffin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcWh_N8yFSc) (not safe for work due to animal slaughter, language and Gordon Ramsay) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/13 "2008-11-15T18:48:15Z")
> [@](#): > > [Are there poisonous birds?](http://birds.suite101.com/article.cfm/poisonous_birds) > > Are any birds poisonous? Surprisingly, a handful of poisonous birds have been identified in Papua New Guinea and research in the future may well reveal that numerous bird species use toxins in some way. The poisonous birds that have been documented so far include the Hooded Pitohui (Pitohui dichrous) , several other species of pitohui, and the Blue-capped Ifrita (Ifrita kowaldi). Bon appetit with the gulls, though. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/14 "2008-11-15T18:50:05Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > Are there any truly inedible birds? Sure, many might be unpalatable or just awkward to eat because of their size, but people pay good money to eat some really tiny ones. Crow is meant to be a bit dodgy to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/15 "2008-11-15T18:57:24Z")
Stay off the albatross, or else you will spend the rest of your life stopping one of three and boring the pants off them. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/16 "2008-11-15T19:03:13Z")
> [@Szlater](#): > > Do they “skyfish” there, like the Icelanders do for puffin? I don’t know - the last residents left in 1930. According to the National Trust website about St Kilda [http://www.kilda.org.uk/frame1.htm](http://www.kilda.org.uk/frame1.htm) they trapped the birds “by hand, or with a fowling rod or a snare.”, so my supposition above about nets is likely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/17 "2008-11-15T19:06:28Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > Crow is meant to be a bit dodgy to eat. Although, in spite of the common saying about eating crow, rook pie is apparently an actual dish. You are supposed to use young rooks which have just fledged, as older ones are apparently terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/18 "2008-11-15T19:12:44Z")
I tried to Google this question, but _ **gull edible** _ returns zero hits. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/19 "2008-11-15T19:13:45Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > Are there any truly inedible birds? I’d stay away from the [Hoatzin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoatzin). “…the bird has a disagreeable, manure-like odor and is only hunted for food in times of dire need.” (I have no idea why my brain retains such information.) ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/20 "2008-11-15T19:30:38Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Although, in spite of the common saying about eating crow, rook pie is apparently an actual dish. You are supposed to use young rooks which have just fledged, as older ones are apparently terrible. I believe sparrow pie is eaten in the Channel Islands You’d need a hell of a lot of sparrers to make a pie big enough to satisfy me. Yes, I’m a greedy sod. Why do you ask? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848.md?page=2)