Most, but not all, species of gull live in coastal areas. There are in fact some mountaineers within the gull family, says Beki Hooper.
Ivory gulls sometimes breed on mountainous Arctic peaks, known as nunataks. These all-white gulls, perfectly camouflaged to Arctic life, build their nests on ledges and have been seen nesting as high as 1,800m (about the height of Mount Washington, USA, or nearly twice the height of Yr Wyddfa in Wales).
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Andean gulls live in the Andes mountains of western South America, and can be found living as high as 4,500m (about the height of Mont Blanc in the Alps). They are well adapted to their arid, high-altitude living environment.
For example, their eggs have fewer pores than eggs of their low-altitude relatives, thus avoiding excessive water loss.
Meanwhile, in the northern hemisphere, the brown-headed gull breeds on the plateaus of central Asia. This species can be found at 4,300m – that’s about the height of Mount Rainier in the USA – and has specialised gut bacteria that help it to thrive at this height.
So, despite being known as seagulls, gulls are not just found at sea level: some species are serious mountain dwellers.
