Across Dunbar and beyond, this year’s gull chicks are beginning to make themselves known. If you’ve spotted one of these wonderfully fluffy youngsters peering over a rooftop, perched on a chimney or calling from a nearby roof, now is the perfect time to add the nest to the Gull Watch map.
Every record helps us build a better picture of where urban gulls are nesting and how our local colonies are doing. By mapping nests over several years, we can begin to understand how gull populations are changing and how they share our towns and cities. Whether you’re in Dunbar or elsewhere, every sighting is valuable.
Please add your sightings here:
https://gullwatch.org.uk/map-a-gull-nest/
Admire from a distance
At this time of year, young gulls may leave the nest before they are fully able to fly. They can sometimes be found on flat roofs, garden sheds or even on the ground. Although they may look abandoned, their parents are almost always nearby and continue to feed and protect them.
For that reason, the best thing to do is usually nothing at all. Avoid approaching or attempting to rescue a healthy chick, as this can separate it from its parents and is likely to provoke a defensive response. Adult gulls are devoted parents and will often dive-bomb anyone they perceive as a threat. This behaviour can seem alarming, but it is simply their way of protecting their young.
Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls, along with their chicks and active nests, are protected by law, so please give them the space they need. If you find a chick that is clearly injured or in immediate danger—for example, trapped or caught in netting—the Scottish SPCA may be able to advise or assist.
The RSPB does not generally rescue individual wild birds, instead concentrating on habitat conservation and species protection.
Every nest you record helps build a clearer picture of our urban gull populations and contributes to a better understanding of these often misunderstood birds.
Did you know?
🪶 Urban gulls aren’t “town birds” by choice. Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls traditionally nested on sea cliffs and remote islands. Many now use rooftops because they offer similar height and safety, while many natural breeding sites have become less suitable through disturbance and other environmental pressures.
🪶 Our habits help them too. Readily available food from discarded litter, overflowing bins and other human waste supports urban gull populations. Better waste management benefits both people and wildlife.
🪶 They are remarkably loyal. Herring Gulls are long-lived birds, often surviving for 20–30 years or more. They commonly return to the same nesting area year after year and frequently remain with the same partner for many breeding seasons.
🪶 Meet their quieter cousin. Kittiwakes are close relatives of the familiar urban gulls but enjoy a much warmer public reputation. These graceful seabirds are increasingly nesting on buildings around parts of the UK coast, showing that adapting to towns and cities isn’t unique to Herring Gulls. The main difference may be that Kittiwakes rarely scavenge from our streets, so most people encounter them only as elegant seabirds rather than opportunistic neighbours.
🪶 Dunbar’s famous Kittiwakes
Dunbar has a special place in the story of urban seabirds. The town’s Kittiwakes are believed to have been among the first in Britain to establish a breeding colony on a building rather than on their traditional sea cliffs, choosing the Old Granary overlooking the harbour.1
Thank you for helping Gull Watch build a better picture of our nesting gulls. Every observation, whether from Dunbar or further afield, helps us understand and conserve these fascinating birds.
- When the Old Granary was later converted into flats, the colony successfully relocated across the harbour to the walls of historic Dunbar Castle. The castle, famously associated with Mary, Queen of Scots, now provides a dramatic backdrop to one of Scotland’s best-known urban Kittiwake colonies—a reminder of how adaptable these seabirds can be when suitable nesting sites are available.
Although Kittiwakes are close cousins of Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls, they lead rather different lives. They spend most of the year far out at sea, feed almost exclusively on fish and other marine prey, and rarely scavenge in our streets. Perhaps that’s one reason they tend to enjoy a much friendlier public image than their larger relatives.
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