A persistent sight and sound at Shilshole and all during our trip was the noisy interaction between juvenile and mature Seagulls (presumably the moms). The young ones want to be fed. Since they were born in the spring, the instinctual actions (head down, bobbing, pecking at the mom and a sort of bleating sound) would have the desired results -- namely mom would regurgitate a tasty meal. Tasty has a broad bandwidth if you are a seagull.
But now, in the fall, that same head bobbing, pecking, and bleating are met with indifference by the parent. That indifference only seems to accentuate the youngsters annoying behavior.
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| The young are gray -- and this one has its head down and was bobbing |
Jodi looked on line then emailed a bird expert. As expected, the parents have presumably taught their kids how to fish and hunt and it's high time to employ those skills. Predictably the kids find it easier to whine and head bob and have a meal magically appear.
This has been going on for weeks now all around the sound and once you are aware of the nature of the interaction, you see it everywhere.
'Feed me'! 'Get a job'. On and on and on.
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| Mom flies off leaving a less than amused youngster |
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