Seagulls have scared off all the little birds.?

Question

I made my garden wildlife friendly last year, put in a wildlife pond (have many newts,frogs and various insects). Planted flowers to attract bees and butterflys. Put out dog food for the fox and hedgehogs and nuts,worms and scraps for the birds.I so enjoyed watching all the visitors.

Then the seagulls moved in. They scare all the little birds off and take all the food I put out. They hang about till 10.30 pm, by then the fox and headghog have passed. They wake up at 3.30am and eat anything I managed to leave out late.

How do I stop them from taking over my garden? They are the only birds that visit now,and taken away all the enjoyment I used to have.I have stopped putting food out to try and discurrage them,but they still come to drink from my pond.

Answer 1

Have you tried feeders that only small birds (sparrows) etc can get the food from?

I have the same problem with black birds who come and eat the food put out for the farrel cat that I feed.. and then they p**p all over my car! So I am trying to find a solution for that.

Answer 2

I can't offer a solution, but I can sympathise with you, as I live by the sea too, and endure the bloody seagulls.We have a family of newly hatched signets on the river nearby, and I watched a seagull take one of them from the mother swan's back just yesterday. Today, there is now only 2 left of the 4 that hatched. I know it's nature, but the seagulls have the monopoly over food, and seem to be taking over.

Answer 3

I live on the coast too, funnily enough the seagulls fly overhead and some even nest on the chimneys of my neighbours across the road but they never come into my garden, which is wildlife friendly like yours.

As youve said that youve stopped feeding but the gulls are still coming to drink from the pond, have you considered that it might not be a drink theyre after as much as a snack courtesy of your frogs etc????? Gulls will eat anything. You could maybe try covering it over with some planks or something similar for a few days (leaving a small gap for the wildlife to enter and exit of course) and see if that will discourage them even further.