Q. Often, I think maybe around this time of year, I see a large flock of seagulls, a.k.a. herring gulls, looking for food on the big Pioneer High School lawn southwest of the Main/Stadium corner. You rarely see those birds this far inland, and in their natural habitat of the seacoast there are few large meadows. Why should they come this far, and why should they like that particular spot?

Trash from the various events is a possibility, but there are a lot of other places around town where that would be true.

A. Herring gulls can be spotted at Pioneer, but not in large numbers; most of those gulls are ring-billed gulls. (Ornithologists flinch at the term “seagull,” regarding it as literary rather than scientific.)

As you note, gulls are drawn to trash, and during football season, Michigan Stadium and adjacent tailgating sites offer a rich harvest. As any driver on I-275 can testify, they’re also especially abundant around landfills. In December, the Washtenaw Audubon Society often leads a birding trip to the Arbor Hills landfill in Salem Township; the club gets special permission to enter off-limits areas where thousands of gulls can be expected, but the trip is so popular that only members can attend. Others who’d like to see more gulls might consider a trip to Ontario, where top birder Jean Iron leads the Niagara River Gull Watch on November 30.

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