Gulls are one of the most fascinating birds with existence of more than 30-35 million years! Surprisingly, apart from being usually found near the sea places, most of them are found at certain times in the landlocked place where I live at, Gurgaon. Maybe in birding world the city will one day be known as “Gull-gaon”! 😊
A very intelligent species which can recognize human faces (all photographers beware!) and even human emotions! It has no moral qualms about food “thieving” (called as “kleptoparasitic”), are excellent problem solvers (like dropping mollusks onto rocks to break them!), can be very creative (like “foot tapping” on ground to mimic sound of rain to lure earthworms!), are very adaptive (can nest anywhere; can drink salt water), are reasonably faithful and form monogamous pairs often! Sounds like the traits of a perfect hero (or anti-hero)! And has some other superhero qualities too – it can see clearly from upto 2km and smell something from 3 miles away!
And they are not just potential heroes for animation movies – they have an evolved communication vocabulary and body movements and can laugh and mimic human behaviors! Like the “Avengers” superheroes, they work in teams and adopt “mobbing” behavior to fend off any enemy! And if the enemy is strong, then they adopt “jinking” behavior (hap hazard and random flying movement) to confuse the predator!
May these Superheroes live long and prosper in their Indian “Gull”istan! (for non Hindi speakers, Gulistan means flower garden 😊)
