Why, in mid U.S., are there seagulls in shopping center parking lots?

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   IDONOposted 12 years ago

   Why, in mid U.S., are there seagulls in shopping center parking lots?
   
   I'm in Ohio and they are everywhere. Why are they here and where did they come from? I've heard a number of stories, but would like to hear yours.

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   JThomp42posted 12 years ago

   They are migrating and have stopped along the way to feed. Here in Tn. we have had this happen many times as well. They will be everywhere and then poof, They are gone.

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   collegedadposted 12 years ago

   Ohio borders the great lakes which are haven for sea gulls. Often these birds migrate inland during inclement weather. If they find a reliable food source they stay. I was recently hiking 20 miles south of Lake Superior and found a flock of approximately. 200 Sea Gulls in a Blue Berry plane. They were feasting! I watched them do this for several weeks.

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   DS Dubyposted 12 years ago

   They're vacationing of course! The central United States is beautiful this time of year!

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   moonlakeposted 12 years ago

   We have them here and they are here all the time. We're 3 hours from any of the great lakes. You're probably  getting them from the great lakes. Why they go so far to look for food I have no idea. I know their scavengers but there has to be better places to eat. I did see them on the lake when we lived on a small lake so they may also be hunting fish in our lakes. If you have lakes and rivers around you they may be in your lakes and rivers. When they get sick of looking for fish they head to the parking lots for a fast snack.

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   Barbara Kayposted 12 years ago

   We live in Michigan and have them anywhere you see a river, lake or parking lot. We used to only see them along the Great Lakes too. I've heard there is an over-population problem with them. It doesn't help that people feed them. The gulls are an aggressive bird. In one area, they were having problems with them attacking people for food.

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 12 years ago

   They are shopping of course!  And the best stores are obviously in Ohio.  They know which wind currents will sweep them through the sky and they hop on them, squawking, "Let's shop in Ohio.... Let's shop in Ohio!"  Right?   I have no idea what they are buying?  Boogie boards?   Then may be you'll see them flying through the sky on them to get back to Lake Michigan... ... get back to us with You Tube videos when that happens... O.K.?
   Thanks!

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   cat on a soapboxposted 12 years ago

   They congregate in large shopping malls in search of "good finds" just like us, and the parking lots and courtyards are full of the trash and food scraps they love to pick over!  Flocks of  Gulls are notorious scavengers and can be considered an avian clean-up crew. We think of them as living by water as the name implies, but they nest and live inland too where there are garbage dumps, amusement parks, and other areas of litter.

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   ErinEliseposted 12 years ago

   According to one of my geology professors,  there are no "sea" gulls, they are all just called gulls.  That's why they're seen inland, near rivers, lakes and of course garbage as well as near the ocean.

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    Diana Leeposted 12 years ago

    Seagulls are aggressively surrounding areas where people are in hopes to get a crust of bread or whatever man may leave behind or offer them. Anyone within a hundred miles of large bodies of water will be near the seagulls fly by range year around. They don't only fish, but will take handouts.
    
    Feeding seagulls is a bit more dramatic than feeding pigeons, but most places you see pigeons you will also see seagulls. Throw some crumbs to seagulls and you'll soon be overwhelmed with their present. Many years ago my husband took out a loaf of bread near the boardwalk of Atlantic City. The seagulls nearly knocked him down as there was so many of them.

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    Ellandrielposted 12 years ago

    Here when that happens is because they can't feed themselves on the ocean. Might be a storm and they can't reach fish.
    So they look for food in shopping parking lot dumpsters or garbage cans from restaurants.
    
    They look for easy sources of food.
    
    I don't know how many miles they fly there but here they travel some good distances .

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12. 69

    gail641posted 12 years ago

    I live in Iowa and I have seen seagulls around the town I live in for quite a while. It seems strange to see seagulls in the midwest. Obviously, they are known to live by oceans--so it is strange to see them in the midwest. I usually see them in parking lots--like a pair of them. Maybe the gulls got confused and went to the wrong parts of the world? Every time I see the seagulls they're always in parking lots of stores like Kmart, Wal-mart, and Shopko, etc. There is a lake in another town called Clear Lake, not too far from the town I live in.

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    Alastar Packerposted 12 years ago

    They're probably all over the country near substantial bodies of water, IDONO. In this area of the east coast they nest at the falls of a big river dam. The Gulls are very smart creatures and know, or have learned, people drop food and will occasionally feed them in big parking lots. Try going to the beach where a gull is flying about and toss out a cracker upon the sand- one will turn into 20 before you can say lickity-split.

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    1. 61

       IDONOposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I've heard opposite. That they are one of the stupidest creatures on Earth and regularly mistake paved lots as bodies of water. They are scavengers, I agree, but dropped food is all over; not just beaches and parking lots.

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       Alastar Packerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Maybe a drunk will make that mistake but no stupid Gulls. Gs like to nest near large bodies of water. Beaches-Park lots, where else for peep food? Parks? Squirrel competition may be a deterrent there.

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    MomsTreasureChestposted 12 years ago

    I too have always wondered this...and it's usually a McDonalds parking lot where someone is always feeding them french fries out the car window to watch the gulls gather!

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