In Stoneybatter, a seagull bonds with a local business owner

On a recent Saturday, Al Cowan was sitting at a giant mixing desk in his recording studio in Stoneybatter, editing tracks. 

He built Sonic Recording Studios from the ground up, starting about 15 years ago, Cowan says. “It's going very well – there's a lot of music being made in Dublin.”

As Cowan talked, a seagull stood out in the car park and watched him through the glass door to the studio. That’s Dave, Cowan says.

He calls Dave the studio's “mascot”, a title Dave seems to embrace. When Cowan is there, Dave usually is too. 

On this recent Saturday, Dave was joined at the glass door – as he sometimes is these days – by a younger seagull, Baby Dave, who mirrors the older bird's attentiveness. 

Seagulls can get bad press in Dublin. But Cowan celebrates the presence of Dave, who has become an integral part of the studio’s daily life, Cowan says. 

“Most of the music studios have cats; we don't have a studio cat, we have a studio seagull, you know. That's cooler. Arguably,” says Cowan. 

Living with gulls

Gulls are pretty smart, says Adam Kane, a researcher at University College Dublin (UCD) who got Science Foundation Ireland funding for a project called Noisy Neighbours, about urban gulls.

Gulls can use bread as bait when fishing, Kane says. When a fish comes up to eat the bread, the bird will catch the fish, much like a fisherman, he says. 

Gulls also form social bonds that involve recognition and attachment to individuals, Kane says. 

This bonding indicates a positive emotional experience, much like affection, which is essential for their social interactions within their species, he says.

“Clearly making social bonds … must be a sort of positive feeling they experience when they are engaging with other individuals,” he says. 

Kane’s research focuses on herring gulls, a species that experienced a significant population decline in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he says. 

While their numbers have recently begun to recover, they remain far below historical levels, he says. 

The project aims to compare the movements of gulls nesting on rooftops – particularly in high-activity areas like university campuses – with those nesting in more natural colonies, Kane says.

Kane’s research seeks to understand and mitigate conflicts between humans and gulls, he says. 

Newspaper articles in the UK and Ireland over the past two to three decades have often portrayed gulls negatively, especially during their reproductive season in the summer months, he says. 

“During this time, gulls become more defensive of their chicks and eggs, leading to increased conflict with people,” which is often reflected in a surge of negative news coverage, he says. 

Understanding how gulls use their urban environment is important, particularly in identifying their foraging and feeding areas, he says. 

This knowledge could help in managing food availability for them, thereby reducing conflict between humans and wildlife, he says. 

First encounter

Cowan first met Dave about five years ago, he says. He was a "healthy looking, very cool, very loud seagull", he says.

Cowan has been feeding him ever since, he says. “I have this thing that it's good karma to be good to animals,” he says.

“So he just kind of went, yeah, I'm gonna stay here,” says Cowan. 

“He knows my car when I drive in and he usually lands on the roof before I've actually gotten out of the car,” he says. 

He feeds Baby Dave too, but Dave chases away any other gulls that approach, says Cowan.

A lot of the clients throw bits of food to Dave too, Cowan says. 

“He's great, you know, sometimes we go to the fridge at home and like there's a pack of something that's a couple of days past time. I say, okay, that's for Dave,” he says.

Kane, the UCD researcher, advises against feeding gulls. 

“I'm inclined to tell people don't feed them because the birds that are making associations with food and people and I think that leads to quite a lot of issues,” he says.

When people intentionally feed a bird, it can be a pleasant experience, Kane says. 

But gulls might form the habit of not waiting to be given food, but just taking it directly – which can scare people, or even leave them injured, he says.

Cowan says he’s heard advice not to feed gulls, but he disagrees. “The truth is, seagulls will find food regardless,” he says. 

“For instance, those two dumpsters over there, you've likely seen bags piled up with large holes ripped in them,” he says. “That's the work of seagulls.”

“What else are they going to do? They no longer have their natural food sources, they've become scavenger birds,” he says.

The good stuff

Kane says there aren’t all that many species that have as significant a cultural impact as gulls. “Especially in this part of the world, which is less species-rich.”

They’re often portrayed as villains, but sometimes they’re portrayed, also, in a positive light, Kane says. 

They can have positive impacts on ecosystems, Kane says. 

Their diet, including organic materials and fruit, aids in nutrient dispersal by spreading seeds and organic matter across environments, fostering plant growth, he says. 

As scavengers, they assist decomposition by removing discarded food and waste, preventing decay and pathogen spread, Kane says. 

These services indirectly benefit humans by promoting healthier ecosystems, supporting wildlife, improving soil, and naturally managing waste, making the common seagull an overlooked ecological asset, he says. 

Kane says that there are so many types of species of gulls with different lifestyles and migratory patterns, making them incredibly interesting to study.

"We are all concerned about wildlife and biodiversity loss, or climate change. But then, on the flip side, there's so much conflict going on with the species," he says.

“I think it kind of challenges how we set up our cities into the 21st century trying to live alongside wildlife,” he says.

At 10:24 on that recent Saturday, Baby Dave walks through the open glass door and into the studio. 

“Hey Baby,” Cowan greets it. 

Then, a second later, Cowan says, “Oh there's Dave” as Dave walks past the window, outside. 

Baby Dave turns and walks out, leaving the studio, following Dave.