# Why are seagulls seen 100s of miles from ocean?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927>\
**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:** 5\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/61 "2014-04-07T21:14:49Z")

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> [@barbitu8](#):
>
> Is that the same gull that rid the land of locusts for the Mormons?

You’re thinking of [Saint Urho.](http://www.sainturho.com/)

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**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/62 "2014-04-07T21:18:22Z")

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> [@Ethilrist](#):
>
> You’re thinking of [Saint Urho.](http://www.sainturho.com/)

Gulls also got rid of the locusts for the Mormons in Utah.

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/63 "2014-04-07T23:19:32Z")

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> [@barbitu8](#):
>
> Is that the same gull that rid the land of locusts for the Mormons?

Yes. You can see from its [range map](http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/california_gull/id) that it’s another one of the inland gulls, like Franklin’s Gull.

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/64 "2014-04-07T23:25:29Z")

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> [@levdrakon](#):
>
> Well, wikipedia refers to them as seabirds, they’ve got webbed feet and they can drink salt water. I’ll defer to your bird expertise, but it seems calling them seagulls is perhaps annoying because it’s redundant, not because we find them inland almost everywhere.

Wikipedia doesn’t qualify as an ornithological reference. They are referred to as seagulls colloquially, but as has been said that is a misnomer. There are many, many birds with webbed feet that aren’t seabirds. Referring to all gulls as seagulls is like calling all ducks seaducks because some species are found along the coast. And as this thread shows, it’s annoying because it gives people the impression that gulls are restricted to coasts, when in fact they are very commonly found inland.

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**Author:** ![MacdaddyC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@MacdaddyC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacdaddyC)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-seagulls-seen-100s-of-miles-from-ocean/169927/65 "2014-04-08T18:42:39Z")

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Why do seagulls fly over the sea?

Because if they flew over the bay, they’d be bagels!

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