Sammy the Squawker - Meet your local Ring-billed Gull

Sammy the Squawker

Meet our local shore birds

By Karen Newquist

Hi! Sammy here, Sammy the Squawker. Glad you came to Algoma, Wisconsin to meet me. If you look over across the parking lot, you’ll see that little sweetie devouring some discarded French fries. That gal is Dora, my mate for life. You see, we Ring-billed Gulls mate for life, unlike some other trashy birds I could name.

You may be admiring the distinctive features that set me apart from a common gull, including my thicker bill with the handsome large black band and my lovely pointy bill tip.

And admired we Ring-billed Gulls have been--don’t you know!  Why we were hunted for our splendid feathers in the late nineteenth century! We were almost hunted to extinction!!!  Now, would I lie to you?

I have a very large family of gulls like me--our Latin name is Larus Delawarensis. Seagull is as broad a term as shore birds.

Thank goodness our huge family has grown, so that many people can look up and wish they could soar through the air like we do! Of course, all the soaring pays off when we spot a tasty bite we can dive down for and snatch!

Quite a good life Dora and I lead. We have a prime space here on this parking lot. We are right next to beautiful Crescent Beach in Algoma where plenty of people come by and leave tasty debris. And if they don’t leave it, I have some pretty slick moves for getting a little when they’re not looking.

Once a year we return to our nesting site to raise a new clutch of chicks. This is a job that takes a team effort and is becoming harder every year as our nesting sites are disappearing. It scares us.

Life isn’t all burgers and fries for a Ring-billed Gull. I have to work hard for other food and I have to work hard to avoid enemies who want to kill me and my family.

It was great to meet you, maybe I’ll see you again in my parking lot!

By Karen Newquist