The Herring Gull is the most widely distributed gull in the Northern Hemisphere, and breeds across much of Canada. Its population has fluctuated greatly over the past 150 years, with large increases in the late 1800s, followed by large declines in the early 1900s due to feather and egg collecting, and then a rebound by the 1960s following the species’ protection (Anderson et al. 2016). Surveys from the southern portion of its breeding range indicate large decreases in abundance relative to about 1970, which is supported by information from the Christmas Bird Count, which monitors the species on its wintering grounds. In the Great Lakes, high levels of contaminants hampered reproduction in the 1970s, and in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, populations were strongly influenced by the rise and fall of groundfish fisheries, which once provided abundant fish offal and discards (Wilhelm et al. 2016). Accidental and chronic oil pollution also pose a risk in the marine environments of Atlantic Canada (Pekarik and Weseloh 1998). This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.
High levels of contaminants in the eggs of Herring Gulls in the Great Lakes dramatically reduced rates of hatching at some sites in the 1970s (Pekarik and Weseloh 1998). Levels of most harmful organochlorine compounds have since decreased (Pekarik and Weseloh 1998, Nisbet et al. 2017), but toxic substances in general remain a concern for Herring Gulls nesting near highly developed areas. In Eastern Canada, changes in the intensity of fisheries and their waste management practices (i.e., a reduction in fish discards) had a strong influence on the populations of this opportunistic scavenger, which benefited from the flourishing groundfish fisheries from the 1960s to the 1980s, but later suffered from their collapse (Wilhelm et al. 2016). Fishing gear entanglement is a threat for this species; gulls are killed while attempting to feed on baited fish or fishing lures (Nisbet et al. 2017). In Atlantic Canada, accidental and chronic oil pollution are also a threat in some locations.
Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.
