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Bird✓ Protected species

Gull / Seagull

Larus spp.

✓What to do NOW

  1. 1Cover the beak with one hand while picking up — it bites hard
  2. 2Wrap in a towel keeping the wings closed
  3. 3Ventilated dark box
  4. 4Contact CRAS — gulls often ingest plastic and fishing hooks

✗NEVER do this

  • ✗Do not handle bare-handed: gulls carry Salmonella and Campylobacter
  • ✗Do not give food
  • ✗Do not immerse in water if it cannot float independently

⚠ Important note

Gulls entangled in fishing lines or nets must be handled with extreme caution. Do not cut the line without seeing where it goes: it may have been swallowed. Young gulls in difficulty in urban areas in July–August are often healthy fledglings — do not pick up if they are moving normally.

⚖ Legal protection

Most species are protected by the Birds Directive and Law 157/1992.

Also known as

herring gullcommon gullternMediterranean gulllittle ternseagull

Did you find a gull / seagull right now?

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