Seagulls and most other gull birds are not protected under federal law, however disrupting/modifying wildlife of any kind (including seagulls) without a permit is illegal. However on a state level some do protect many gulls including seagulls while also controlling their population to reduce nuisance.
Then you have places like Florida, where seagulls are not even protected under the local animal cruelty act. You could torture them for being the scavenger animals they are and not get into any trouble at all. It’s really sickening.
As someone from Florida, this is a true, but once you have been the victim of, or seen families become victims of, a swarm of these assholes, you can understand people reacting violently. As another commenter said: I disagree, but I understand. For me personally, when I would go to the beach, if I saw 30+ seagulls sitting on the beach, I’d tell the kids “sorry, not today” and we’d leave. They are that bad.
I’m not an ornithologist and have no idea how many species of gulls there are or whether they’re all protected, but yes a number of gulls, if not all, are protected in the US by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 plus various amendments. There’s a list here:
Seagulls and most other gull birds are not protected under federal law, however disrupting/modifying wildlife of any kind (including seagulls) without a permit is illegal. However on a state level some do protect many gulls including seagulls while also controlling their population to reduce nuisance.
Then you have places like Florida, where seagulls are not even protected under the local animal cruelty act. You could torture them for being the scavenger animals they are and not get into any trouble at all. It’s really sickening.
As someone from Florida, this is a true, but once you have been the victim of, or seen families become victims of, a swarm of these assholes, you can understand people reacting violently. As another commenter said: I disagree, but I understand. For me personally, when I would go to the beach, if I saw 30+ seagulls sitting on the beach, I’d tell the kids “sorry, not today” and we’d leave. They are that bad.
I’m not an ornithologist and have no idea how many species of gulls there are or whether they’re all protected, but yes a number of gulls, if not all, are protected in the US by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 plus various amendments. There’s a list here:
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-50/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-10/subpart-B/section-10.13
Fair, but seagulls are not migratory and aren’t in the list far as we see (unless we’re blind)