Facts you should know about BLACK HEADED GULLS!
Channel: A Shot Of Wildlife
Date: 2022-02-21

Black-headed gulls are one of the most common urban gull species and are found across most of the Northern hemisphere. In this video you will find What black headed gulls look like, where they nest, what black headed gulls eat and lots of other black headed gull facts. 
Here is the script I have written and used in this video: 
The black headed gull is a small species of gull that is found all across Europe, north and central asia and in some parts of North America. In the UK they live everywhere except for central wales and the Scottish highlands. They have a wingspan of just over a meter and can weigh upto 330grams. 
Despite their name, they never actually have a black head but in the nesting season they do develop chocolate coloured head. Outside of the nesting season they lose most of this and have just a couple of dark blotches near to their eyes. They also have light grey wings with black tips and dark red beaks and legs. There isn’t any difference in the colouring of males and females although the male birds are slightly larger.
A lot of gulls are associated with coastal areas but black headed gulls are common sight away from the sea. They live in noisy, quarrelsome groups around urban areas, such as parks gardens and rubbish tips but are also found along freshly ploughed fields and at inland water bodies such as reservoirs, lakes and rivers. They will eat pretty much anything but a lot of their diet is made up of insects, worms and other invertebrates, seeds, scraps, fish and carrion.
Black headed gulls typically start breeding at 2 years of age around mid-april when a pair will form and begin the construction of a nest. This is usually on the ground near to a water body and close to the nests of other black headed gulls, albeit just out of pecking distance. The nest is made out of twigs, grass and aquatic weeds but they will also unfortunately use litter in urban areas. If the colony is large, the fitter gulls nest in the middle of the group with the weaker pairs being forced nesting on the periphery. Once the nest is built the female will lay 2 or 3 olive green speckled eggs that measure just over 5cm long. Sometimes black headed gulls exhibit brood parasitism whereby a female will lay her eggs in the nest of another pair so that they rear her chicks. This is more likely to happen if her own nest has been destroyed or stolen by another pair. Once all the eggs are laid both the males and females share the incubation duties. This takes from 23 to 26 days when the speckled grey fluffy chicks hatch out. These chicks can stand up and walk around shortly after hatching and continuously beg for food from their parents. Like adults, male chicks are larger than females and as they require more food, they have a lower survival rate if food is in short supply. The chicks take from 30 to 42 days until they are able to fly and are fed by both parents for several weeks after this point. Black headed gulls only nest once per season and although some pairs remain together for several years, they often find new mates for each nesting attempt. After reaching independence the young birds gradually moult to look almost like their parents and over their first winter the only tell tale difference are the darker feathers that remain on their wings. 
In the UK there are currently an estimated 140,000 pairs of black headed gulls with around 2.2million overwintering here. Global populations are rising and they are gradually colonizing more parts of north America. If a black headed gull survives to the point of fledging, it has an average lifespan of around 11 years but in 2018 one bird was recorded at 32.25 years.
Some of the footage and images used in this video were obtained using creative commons licences. Here are links to them and their licence details:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEOU6LdqR0k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVqYaYxxBsc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEhwRxoor4w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxCjzbhoqis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSU8RsWCQFQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVCx2r_fGkc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A2AWNRN8DY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5Q_anff-pA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNvkatCR7zw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd6-lMJPB08
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1LsVL8aGIQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2uNavEFwE0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9enKLTPXf60
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJjEhmuGIRQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiU1jwzCdYE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBAWbUExjko
Gull nest CC BY SA Mary Gillham https://www.flickr.com/photos/marygillhamarchiveproject/26342482076/
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0:00-0:28 Black-headed gull distribution
0:29 Black-headed gull description
1:02 Black-headed gull habitat
1:21 Black-headed gull diet
1:33 Black-headed gull nesting
3:21 Black-headed gull fun facts
3:40 Black-headed gull lifespan