# Why are seagulls seen 100s of miles from ocean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927 "2003-04-20T22:11:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/21 "2003-04-21T06:54:52Z")
So it boils down to confusion about different types of gull and the names given to them. Yes, here in Calgary you can go to Peter’s Drive-Inn (right off the TransCanada) and watch _franklin’s_ gulls fight over you fries in the parking lot hundreds of miles from anything you’d even call a lake. Then drive out to Vancouver and see gulls that look almost exactly the same and not even be able to spot the difference - I’ve watched gulls in both areas. Then again, when I was a kid and went to the river we called any kind of plants growing in the water at all “seaweed”; even though we were just east of the rockies. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/22 "2003-04-21T12:33:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by brdrcolle \* > \*\*Some birds can nest on the water, like the kingfisher. \*\* I think you’re getting mixed up with the ancient Greek/Sicilian legend of the halcyon (which is what they called the kingfisher). The _halcyon days_ were a period of calm and prosperity before the winter solstice when the bird was supposed to incubate its eggs on the surface of the sea. Kingfishers don’t really do that – most species nest in holes in the river bank. The answers given so far about “_sea_gull” being a misnomer are correct. They are only called that because English-speakers originally found them near the sea coasts of Britain, but many species are opportunist feeders and will go wherever the food is. As humans have created large sources of free food far from their original habitat, the gulls have spread inland. I’ve never seen members of the _Laridae_ called “seagulls” in an ornithologist’s guide – it’s always just “gulls”. BTW, if you ever see gulls’ eggs on a menu, you might want to remember where they may have eatn and that the eggs are likely to be full of salmonella. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/23 "2003-04-21T15:22:44Z")
gluria, some seagulls migrate. Next time find out what kind of gull it is & I can find their migration pattern. Im sure Colibri would be more than happy to write on this too. ---
**Author:** ![TGWATY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@TGWATY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TGWATY)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/24 "2003-04-21T18:28:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ski \* > \*\*Now, if seagulls were in Colorado, or Wyoming, or Nebraska, or Kansas, that would be interesting, \*\* We have gulls here in Kansas, too, that live on the lakes. I don’t know if they are _sea_gulls though. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/25 "2003-04-21T19:59:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TGWATY \* > \*\*I don’t know if they are _sea_gulls though. \*\* There’s no such thing. How many more times? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/26 "2003-04-21T20:01:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ski \* > \*\*In your case, wouldn’t the gulls probably come from the several large lakes (like Lake Michigan and Lake Erie) that are pretty close by? > > Now, if seagulls were in Colorado, or Wyoming, or Nebraska, or Kansas, that would be interesting, as they are _definitely_ land-locked states far from large bodies of water. \*\* We DO have gulls in Colorado, ski. Utah, also, has an interesting legend (?) where a locust invasion was averted by seagulls. Bob ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/27 "2003-04-22T00:58:08Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Ruby_ > **I live in northern Indiana where you can’t possibly get more landlocked and we have gulls. I’ve always thought it was weird, too.** > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ski \* > **In your case, wouldn’t the gulls probably come from the several large lakes (like Lake Michigan and Lake Erie) that are pretty close by?** > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by barbitu8_ > **\“Sea gulls” is a misnomer and is not used by birders, as most gulls are not limited to salt water areas.** There you go again. Fighting ignorance. Sheesh. I’ve been under the misunderstanding that being a SEAgull had something to do with the sea. duh! :smack: Yes, I’m close enough to Lake Michigan that gulls would likely be around. I’m glad to know the gulls flying around the mall are not just lost! ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/28 "2003-04-22T01:12:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ruby \* > \*\*I’ve been under the misunderstanding that being a SEAgull had something to do with the sea. \*\* You SEE how GULLible you’ve been. This thread will TERN you around. ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/29 "2003-04-22T02:26:34Z")
We’ve got gulls here in Utah. They live at the landfills. We also have pelicans on the Great Salt Lake and occasionally on Utah Lake. I hear there are pelicans on Jackson Lake at the foot of the Tetons. There’s also a single South American flamingo on the Great Salt Lake. He escaped from either the Hogle zoo or Tracy aviary and is called “Pink Floyd”. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/30 "2003-04-22T03:32:40Z")
\*\*Birds Of Indiana \*\* shows gulls, along with pelicans, in the “accidental birds” section. I sail on a lake near Muncie that’s only a mile by three miles. In most years, a few gulls live there. I haven’t seen a pelican in Indiana, but Great Blue Herons work the river a mile from my house. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/31 "2003-04-22T21:30:40Z")
“I pity the poor pelican; Its beak can hold more than its belly can.” - Ogden Nash There are two pelican species found in NA, the brown pelican (which has been the only one in SC, where I live, until recently) and the white pelican (my book calls it the American white pelican). Any gulls in Utah would be the white pelican, which is much more whiter than the brown. In recent years, the white pelican has been moving into the “Lowcountry” and has been sighted just SE of Charleston. Gulls in Utah can be of several different species, herring, Franklins, ring-billed, and the California gull. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/32 "2003-04-22T22:53:05Z")
Is ‘seagulls’ really a such a grievous misnomer? or is it just a generic term? - If I visit the beach and see a variety of white screeching birds, I am likely to call them seagulls; that some anoraked twitcher knows a herring gull from a ring-billed gull and knows that ‘_some_ gulls don’t actually live near the sea’ is pretty much irrelevant to the man in the street. ‘Seagull’ is not an incorrect term because it isn’t trying to be scientifically precise. I call them ShiteHawks anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/33 "2003-04-22T23:04:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > Is ‘seagulls’ really a such a grievous misnomer? Grievous – no. Misleading – yes. Witness the OP’s confusion. Another good example might be “shore birds.” You’ll hear birders use this, but there are plenty of example of such that are frequently found far from any shore. The trouble is that a generic term can useful, even when imprecise. But in this case, the term “gull” seems to work better than “seagull.” ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/34 "2003-04-22T23:08:43Z")
Curse you **Mangetout**! The very last post, and it was my planned _shithawks_ one. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/35 "2003-04-22T23:40:40Z")
The ones you see over the bay are called bagels. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/36 "2003-04-22T23:48:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*“I pity the poor pelican; > Its beak can hold more than its belly can.” - Ogden Nash > > There are two pelican species found in NA, the brown pelican (which has been the only one in SC, where I live, until recently) and the white pelican (my book calls it the American white pelican). Any gulls in Utah would be the white pelican, which is much more whiter than the brown. In recent years, the white pelican has been moving into the “Lowcountry” and has been sighted just SE of Charleston. > > Gulls in Utah can be of several different species, herring, Franklins, ring-billed, and the California gull. \*\* Several errors here: [ul][li]The correct quote is[/li] A _wonderful_ bird is the Pelican, His bill can hold more than his belican. He can take in his beak Food enough for a week; But I’m damned if I see how the helican. [li]It was written by Dixon Lanier Merritt, although it’s often falsely attributed to Nash.[/li][li]A pelican isn’t a gull any more than a horse is a cow.[/ul][/li] **Mangetout** : Trust me, you don’t need to be an anorak to tell one kind of shitehawk from another. BTW, in case anyone remembers the '80s band _A Flock of Seagulls_, I recall an interview with some of their fans waiting outside a concert venue who asked the interviewer what a flock of seagulls was. They were somewhere in the heartland if memory serves but I wasn’t really paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/37 "2003-04-23T00:12:28Z")
\ I was told by an avid bird-watcher and avian expert that there is no such thing as a “seagull.” There are lots of types of gulls, some of which happen to live near the ocean. You will see various types of gulls at the seaside. \ ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/38 "2003-04-23T00:22:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\*Several errors here: > [ul][li]The correct quote is[/li] > A _wonderful_ bird is the Pelican, > His bill can hold more than his belican. > He can take in his beak > Food enough for a week; > But I’m damned if I see how the helican. > > [li]It was written by Dixon Lanier Merritt, although it’s often falsely attributed to Nash.[/li][li]A pelican isn’t a gull any more than a horse is a cow.[/ul][/li]\*\* I never said a pelican was a gull. I was replying to a prior post. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_J\_Cunningham\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e79b87/32.png) [@Edward\_J\_Cunningham\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_J_Cunningham_1)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/39 "2003-04-23T00:22:55Z")
> [@](#): > > My daughter asked me why she sees seagulls 100’s of miles from the ocean. I couldn’t answer her. Anybody know? Thanks Because they have to go to the bathroom and they can’t find a target to hit? Eddie ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/40 "2003-04-23T00:23:39Z")
Not so much a nitpick, **MLS** , as a repetiton of what three or four people have already said. Can’t hurt I suppose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927.md?page=3)