Noah Perlut, Ph.D., associate professor and department chair in the Department of Environmental Studies, recently presented his research on the movements and survival of herring gulls at the 43rd Annual Conference of the Waterbird Society held at the University of Maryland Eastern.
The Waterbird Society is a United States based ornithological society, focusing on the behavior, ecology, and conservation of water birds.
The herring gull population is in decline in the Gulf of Maine. Little is known about the movements and habitat selection of the species during the pre-breeding sub-adult phase. Perlut has been studying the nesting colonies of the gulls on rooftops in Portland and on Duck and Appledore Islands.
Perlut's talk, titled "Dispersal and apparent survival by sub-adult herring gulls from urban and island colonies in the Gulf of Maine," focused on the movements and survival of herring gulls hatched on roof-tops as compared to those hatched on islands in the Gulf of Maine.
Seven co-authors assisted Perlut on the study, including Margaret Friar, Ph.D., senior lecturer, Department of Biology.
