Manx Shearwaters, a seabird, are ungainly on land as their feet (very far back on their body) are designed for swimming. They must come on land to breed and later feed their chicks.
The gulls on Skomer Island take advantage of the Manx Shearwater's vulnerability on land and attack and kill them (most likely the Great black-backed gull does this). To reduce the risk of that happening, Manx Shearwater's wait until it's dark before going back to their burrows.
Despite that, some will still get killed by the gulls, be it bad timing (too early or too late in the night so it's not dark enough and the gulls can see them) or bad luck. Side note: The Manx Shearwaters can't really see in the dark either so they do occasionally crash into things, and people.
This could be a juvenile Lesser black-backed gull, juvenile Great black-backed gull, or even possibly a juvenile Herring Gull. It's hard for me to tell from this footage alone and all 3 are a possibility on Skomer Island.
It's unlikely that this juvenile gull was the one to kill the Manx Shearwater. Instead, it is just picking at the remains.
Seeing this was a goal of mine and I literally saw it the last morning I was there so I'm very happy about that!
The gulls on Skomer Island take advantage of the Manx Shearwater's vulnerability on land and attack and kill them (most likely the Great black-backed gull does this). To reduce the risk of that happening, Manx Shearwater's wait until it's dark before going back to their burrows.
Despite that, some will still get killed by the gulls, be it bad timing (too early or too late in the night so it's not dark enough and the gulls can see them) or bad luck. Side note: The Manx Shearwaters can't really see in the dark either so they do occasionally crash into things, and people.
This could be a juvenile Lesser black-backed gull, juvenile Great black-backed gull, or even possibly a juvenile Herring Gull. It's hard for me to tell from this footage alone and all 3 are a possibility on Skomer Island.
It's unlikely that this juvenile gull was the one to kill the Manx Shearwater. Instead, it is just picking at the remains.
Seeing this was a goal of mine and I literally saw it the last morning I was there so I'm very happy about that!
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