#silvergull

Today's feature is Australia's two most iconic seabirds, any Australian will recognise these as 'the' beach birds of Australia.

Silver Gull

(Chroiococephalus novaehollindae)

The Silver Gull is a widespread adaptive opportunist. It is found in Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. It is a medium sized gull, with a length of ~44cm, a wingspan of ~94cm, and a weight of about 300g.

This bird is most common around the coast, but is found in abundance all over the country, particularly in cities. It is a carnivorous bird, eating invertebrates and fish, but is also a scavenger, and will pester people fiercely for their fish and chips.

Australian Pelican (Pelicanus conspicillatus)

The Australian Pelican is a large coastal waterbird, related distantly to shoebill storks, found in Australia, New Guinea, Fiji, and parts of Indonesia. Australian Pelicans are one of the largest ocean birds, and hold the record for the longest bill of any bird, up to 50cm long. It is ~1.7m long, with a ~2.5m wingspan, and a weight of ~7kg.

Day 19.

Even though I have managed to avoid the ‘top 4′ single use plastics (water bottles, takeaway coffee cups, straws and plastic shopping bags)  since the beginning of July,  I have managed to collect a whole bag full of single-use plastic from cheese wrappings, meat, postal items and magazine packaging.  I will put all this plastic in the RedCycle bin tomorrow, so that it will be recycled and not find its way into our waterways.  I take it on trust that RedCycle will do the right thing with it!  

The largest pieces of plastic in my collection for RedCycle came from wrapping of non-perishable goods packed within cardboard boxes, although we did manage to buy a new desk lamp that was wrapped entirely in paper and cardboard.

Large pieces of plastic are a problem, but they can be easily picked up by our litter crew.  If they are left to break down into smaller pieces,  they become really dangerous to the wildlife.  

This photo shows some typical sharp pieces of litter that we regularly pick up on our local beach.  Just look at the really tiny bits among the dried up seagrass on the ground!  These pieces are almost impossible for humans to pick up easy pickings for small birds and animals.