Seagulls fly low over Alexanderplatz in a cloudless sky Photo: dpa/picture-alliance
From BZ/dpa
Bye sea, hello Berlin. More and more coastal seagulls are flying to the capital.
Not only the small native black-headed gulls (white-grey plumage, red beak, about 60 pairs) feel at home between Tegeler See and Müggelsee. Larger species now also live here: herring gulls, Mediterranean gulls and common gulls.
“Their breeding grounds in the wild are actually islands, untouched areas where there is gravel and sand and no disturbance,” says urban nature expert Derk Ehlert. There are fewer and fewer of them on the North and Baltic Seas because they are being built up or serve as local recreation areas.
That’s why the animals were looking for new habitats and would find them inland. For example on the roof of the Alexa shopping center (middle), in Gropiusstadt (Neukölln) and in the Märkisches Viertel (Reinickendorf) “We assume there are more than 150 pairs of breeding birds in the city,” says Ehlert.
There are also fewer fishing boats on the coast. In Berlin they hoped for more food. “By the way, they don’t give their boys fries or kebabs,” explained Ehlert. “But fish.” As well as delicacies such as rats and small mammals.