A Misleading Name
Interestingly, there is actually no such species as a seagull and the name is a layman's term that is used to refer to any of the species that belong to the family Laridae (meaning “ravenous sea bird” in Greek) or gulls. This can be misleading because many species of gulls live, feed, and nest inland. Gulls are relatively uniform in shape but do vary in size and colouration. They are known to be scavengers and are often seen in large, noisy flocks congregating wherever food is easily available. They can almost always be found around beaches, picnic grounds, parking lots and garbage dumps. Many people consider gulls to be a nuisance, but they actually perform a very valuable service as part of nature’s garbage disposal mechanism, scavenging and consuming great numbers of dead animals and organic litter which could pose a health risk to people.![](https://www.skedaddlewildlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Blog-8.SEAGULL-EATING-628x314.jpg)