Overwintering Gulls in the Salish Sea

January - March 2020

Ring-billed Gull - Jericho Beach, Vancouver BC

The Salish Sea is a network of coastal waterways comprising the Southwest coast of BC and Northern Washington state, and is a globally important area for marine birds. In particular the Salish Sea is an over-wintering area for many species of gulls that breed from the Arctic to the Baja peninsula.

This winter I worked on establishing a research project throughout Southwestern BC alongside researchers from Environment and Climate Change Canada. This research aimed to better quantify overwinter behaviour, foraging and habitat usage of resident gulls, using GPS tracking tags to monitor locations and stable isotope analysis to build a food-web for the area. We captured gulls at locations throughout the Salish Sea, targeting both natural coastal areas and landfills in order to compare the preferences of birds utilizing disturbed and undisturbed areas.