# Where do seagulls disappear to at night? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-seagulls-disappear-to-at-night/238070 "2004-04-03T16:31:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LuckySevens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@LuckySevens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LuckySevens)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-seagulls-disappear-to-at-night/238070/1 "2004-04-03T16:31:44Z")
Now I know what your all thinking; they sleep of course! But where? Seriously, I live near an inner city beach, and we have seaguls everywhere during the day, but at night they disappear. There’s not many trees around, and the ones that do exist are empty from birds. Where they hell do they sleep? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-seagulls-disappear-to-at-night/238070/2 "2004-04-03T17:38:53Z")
During the nesting season, they tend to return to their rookeries. At other times, they find sheltered bays/inlets/ponds and sleep on the water, distant from land predators. I believe that most gulls nest in rocky promontories. (No, I have no idea where gulls along the Florida coast nest–perhaps among dunes.) I have never seen a gull in a tree, unlike herons who _are_ the most unlikely tree-nesters I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-seagulls-disappear-to-at-night/238070/3 "2004-04-03T21:14:17Z")
Another Sea Gull Question Roughly how far inland do they venture? ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-seagulls-disappear-to-at-night/238070/4 "2004-04-03T21:54:21Z")
My brother and I have a small boat on Lake Erie, we often see them huddle together on the water in large groups when the sun goes down. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-seagulls-disappear-to-at-night/238070/5 "2004-04-03T22:15:19Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Another Sea Gull Question > > Roughly how far inland do they venture? I have seen them over garbage dumps hundreds of miles inland. they are like rats. If there’s garbage, there’s seagulls. I have been sailing my boat in rough waters, bouncing all over the place, soaking in the spray, and yet seen the seagulls just sitting there in the water, bobbing up and down with the waves like nothing is happening and looking very comfortable. In the meanwhile my boat is being slammed by waves and I am soaking wet and having a hard time not being tossed around. I am reminded of the joke: Q. Why do seagulls fly over they sea? A. Because if they flew over the bay they’d be bagels. (bay-gulls) ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-seagulls-disappear-to-at-night/238070/6 "2004-04-03T22:51:46Z")
Kmart and Walmart parking lots of course. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-seagulls-disappear-to-at-night/238070/7 "2004-04-03T23:53:28Z")
Either Cecil, or one of the Imponderables books deals with sea gulls and parking lots. They prefer flat open areas, in the same way pigeons prefer areas near cliffs. Thus our cities are filled with pigeons and our parking lots with sea gulls.