A hospital patient is distraught after a seagull nest he had been observing atop the Health Sciences Centre for four weeks was destroyed.
The patient caught the removal on video, which has since gained significant traction online.
Seabird researcher and professor at Memorial University, Bill Montevecchi says while it is uplifting to hear people upset over an animal’s wellbeing, it had to be done to protect the safety of the workers.
(Gulls rest by the edge of the water in Flatrock.)
Montevecchi says aggression peaks around the time of hatching, and according to the person recording the video, four weeks of watching the bird’s nest would set it around hatching time. He says the situation would only have worsened, as the parents are most protective during that time.
Montevecchi believes moving the nest was not an option. He questions how far the nest would have to be moved, whether the gulls would take to the new nest, and if not, who then would care for the chicks if the parents were disconnected.
Letting the chicks hatch, grow, then leave the nest on their own accord would have led to further complications, according to Montevecchi.
He says it would take another month for the chicks to gain flight. Pausing the worksite and leaving the nest as it was, would encourage the animal to return to the same spot the following year.
The best method to avoid this in the future, Montevecchi says, is prevention.
In that case, he says the best method of prevention is to remove the nest material once a week. The gulls will eventually get the point, and move on.
