News Animals

Young gulls’ drab plumage may help them avoid adult attacks

Real gulls attacked decoys with first-year colors less often those with adult colors

A nesting seagull sits back to camera but with its head turned. A fuzzy chick is visible in the grass next to the gull.

An adult American herring gull guards chicks at its nest on Kent Island, New Brunswick, Canada.

Daniel Mennill

By Hannah Thomasy

While many bird species go from egg to adult in months, some seabirds spend years in a sort of awkward adolescent phase, sporting darker, drabber plumage than the adults.

In American herring gulls, this immature coloring can function as a social signal, helping youngsters avoid aggression from breeding adults, researchers report June 4 in Animal Behavior.