Although generally thought of as marine creatures, gulls are really creatures of shorelines. Omnivorous, opportunistic scavengers, the proliferation of open garbage dumps has provided more than ample feeding grounds for such familiar species as the herring gull. This has led to a great increase in their numbers.

To many people all the birds seen near the sea are "seagulls." Actually there are many different kind of birds who make their living from the sea. There are shags, eagles, sea doves, and a host of others. 

This, however, is a true seagull, a Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), one of the most familiar seaside birds on both Greek coasts and inland areas. For the so-called seagull is just as apt to follow a tractor and pick up grasshoppers on a farm as it is to pick up clams and crabs from a beach. 

Gulls are not good fishermen, but they are excellent scavengers and will eat nearly anything. They are important in cleaning up harbours and beaches. They are know to pick up shellfish and drop them from the air into a rock, road, house or car to crack them open. Although they can swim passably well, they cannot dive or swim under water.

Herring gulls are the most familiar and widespread of the gull species. A big, bold bird frequently seen following boats, herring gulls are sociable birds who hunt, migrate and feed together. They are long lived as birds go -one record of a banded chick was recovered 28 years later. They build nests on the ground and raise two or three young at a time.

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