# 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:** 2
**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, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/21 "2008-11-15T19:38:04Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I tried to Google this question, but _ **gull edible** _ returns zero hits. I sounds like gull is right up there with vulture, recipe-wise. > **[UKTV Corporate | UKTV](https://corporate.uktv.co.uk)** > > Find out about Multi-award winning British broadcaster UKTV. Services include U&Dave, U&W, U& Drama, U&Yesterday, Gold, Alibi, Eden and on demand service U. One should not confuse “edible” with “commonly eaten” or “delicious.” ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/22 "2008-11-15T19:41:27Z")
Have you looked into starlings? They have pretty much replaced pigeons as the “rats with wings” round here. They will actually perch on your trolley (cart) as you make your way through the supermarket car park. Any proposal to kill, eat, or use starlings as fuel will meet with my full approval. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/23 "2008-11-15T19:43:07Z")
Salesman: (shouting) Albatross! Albatross! Albatross! Man: Two Good Humors, please. S: I haven’t got any Good Humors, I’ve just got this bloody albatross. (Shouts) Albatross! M: What flavor is it? S: It’s a bird mate, it’s a bloody bird, it’s not any bloody flavor. (Shouts) Albatross! M: It’s got to be some flavor. I mean, everything’s got a flavor. S: All right, it’s bloody albatross flavor, it’s bloody sea bloody bird bloody flavor.(Shouts) Albatross! M: Do you get wafers with it? S: Course you don’t get bloody wafers with it. It’s a bloody albatross isn’t it? (Shouts) Albatross! M: I’ll have two, please. S: I’ve only got one, you cocksucker. (Shouts) Albatross! Albatross! Albatross! ---
**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, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/24 "2008-11-15T19:52:25Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > Have you looked into starlings? They have pretty much replaced pigeons as the “rats with wings” round here. They will actually perch on your trolley (cart) as you make your way through the supermarket car park. > > Any proposal to kill, eat, or use starlings as fuel will meet with my full approval. Believe it or not the starling population has halved over the last few years, and I don’t think it’s down to people eating them.:- [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/3304685/House-sparrow%2C-cuckoo-and-starling-now-threatened-species.html](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/3304685/House-sparrow%2C-cuckoo-and-starling-now-threatened-species.html) ---
**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, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/25 "2008-11-15T19:52:54Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > Have you looked into starlings? They have pretty much replaced pigeons as the “rats with wings” round here. They will actually perch on your trolley (cart) as you make your way through the supermarket car park. > > Any proposal to kill, eat, or use starlings as fuel will meet with my full approval. Starlings seem to have disappeared up here, certainly they are far fewer than of old. We’ve got tons of gulls that seem to be growing to a worrying size though. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/26 "2008-11-15T20:05:52Z")
Well, that is odd. If any ornithologists are reading this, I can tell you where the starlings have gone. They are all in the car park of Tescos on the A3 near New Malden. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/27 "2008-11-15T20:31:59Z")
If they were edible they would be on the list of endangered species. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/28 "2008-11-15T20:44:01Z")
Ok, but are Eds gullible? ---
**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, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/29 "2008-11-15T21:49:43Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > Ok, but are Eds gullible? Only the little ones. ---
**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, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/30 "2008-11-15T23:02:30Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > 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. I am calling edible “better than starving to death”. Poisonous stuff is out (unless you prefer death by poisoning over starvation, which is sensible but doesn’t make something edible). Pine trees are out as there is nothing of nutrition humans can derive from it. Palatability is a different ball of wax, as the line between delicacy and disgusting changes with perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/31 "2008-11-15T23:05:12Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > Pine trees are out as there is nothing of nutrition humans can derive from it. [False](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_nut). ---
**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, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/32 "2008-11-15T23:34:49Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > [False](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_nut). I love pine nuts! (and I have never had that problem they describe) Anyways, fine, substitute with any other plant we cannot assimilate, or with a pine tree that doesn’t have nuts at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/33 "2008-11-15T23:38:10Z")
Pine needles are also edible - they contain lots of vitamin C apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/34 "2008-11-16T00:20:00Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Pine needles are also edible - they contain lots of vitamin C apparently. Ray Mears makes pine needle tea. But then I don’t think there’s anything he won’t eat, drink or wear as a hat. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/35 "2008-11-16T02:09:42Z")
“Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible.” – [Euell Gibbons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euell_Gibbons), Grape Nuts cereal commercial, 1974 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/36 "2008-11-16T02:14:10Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > “Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible.” > > – [Euell Gibbons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euell_Gibbons), Grape Nuts cereal commercial, 1974 Late to the thread, and I’m beaten by four minutes. So anyway, are ed.s gullible? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/37 "2008-11-16T02:23:14Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So anyway, are ed.s gullible? [Beaten by hours.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10452559&postcount=28) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/38 "2008-11-16T02:24:22Z")
:smack: And I _looked_, too! ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/39 "2008-11-16T08:02:15Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > Well, that is odd. If any ornithologists are reading this, I can tell you where the starlings have gone. They are all in the car park of Tescos on the A3 near New Malden. Not all of them, some are in Tesco car park on the Altrincham Road leading to Timperley, Cheshire. Kept there by the silly old bat who feeds them every day ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2008, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848/40 "2008-11-16T08:37:41Z")
The[link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muttonbirding) goes to Muttonbirding - but does have this line’ > [@](#): > > the hunting of petrels and other seabirds has occurred in numerous places since prehistoric times, and there is evidence that many island populations have become extinct as a result, I think we had the Gordon Ramsay thing here too, the gulls were an ‘acquired’ taste, weren’t they? Other than that, all I can contribute is that the bloody starlings are doing fine here and scarfing down the unformed fruit on our feijoa tree so there’ll be none to give to my Dad for winemaking. Bastard starlings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gulls-edible/472848.md?page=3)