Kelp Gull. Larus dominicanus vetula.

Kelp Gull.			Beach House.
Larus dominicanus vetula.			Kommetjie.
			Kelp Gull in flight at Houtbay Harbor.
			The nominate race of the Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus) occurs along the coasts of South America, New Zealand, Australia and many islands in the Southern Ocean. The subspecies found along the southern African coastline, L. d. vetula, is currently thought to be sufficiently different from the nominate race that it ought to be regarded as a full species. Kelp Gulls breed in Namibia and South Africa.


The southern African population of Kelp Gulls has been estimated to contain 11 000 pairs, 9000 in South Africa and 2000 in Namibia. Even though the total population of Kelp Gulls (treating it as the species L. vetula) is far smaller than that of African Penguins Spheniscus demersus, which contains about 180 000 birds, it is not regarded as threatened. This is because the penguin population is steadily decreasing at a rate of about 2% per year, while that of Kelp Gull is on the increase. This upwards trend is in part due to the suspension of persecution by humans. Numbers on the guano islands were controlled in order to reduce predation on the main guano-producing birds. The main factor in the increase in Kelp Gull populations has been human subsidies: large numbers take discards of fish behind trawlers and at fish processing factories; even larger numbers occur at rubbish tips, where they feed on discarded food.
For example, the rubbish dump near the Strandfontein Sewage Works on the Cape Flats, regularly supports more than 1000 Kelp Gulls, the largest known concentration of the species outside a breeding colony. Kelp Gulls are aggressive predators on the offshore islands. They take every conceivable opportunity to rob African Penguins, Cape Gannets (Morus capensis), cormorants, terns and Hartlaub's Gulls (L. hartlaubii) of their eggs and small nestlings. The two species for which they cause the most serious problems, from a conservation perspective, are the penguin and the Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii).
			Kelp Gull with chick. November 1998. Photo (C) Les Underhill.
Kelp Gulls don't have things all their own way, however. The White Pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus) on Dassen Island have, over the past few years, taken to eating Kelp Gull chicks, and have reduced the breeding productivity on this island to very low levels. Most ringing of Kelp Gulls is of nestlings. There are three records of nestlings living to ages exceeding 20 years. The oldest bird was ringed in November 1971 in the colony near Plettenburg Bay; it was recovered just over 24 years later, in January 1996, very close to the place where it had been ringed. Kelp Gulls are one of the species being targeted with individually engraved colour rings. If you see one, report the colours and the letters/numbers to SAFRING.
Information on Kelp Gulls and the 1 photograph from http://www.uct.ac.za/depts/stats/adu/seabirds.htm (c) L. Underhill.
Continue the Bird Watching Tour to find out more about the Beach House birds.	Bird Watching Tour
		Information on Sea Gulls from http://www.uct.ac.za/depts/stats/adu/seabirds.htm with kind permission. (c) L. Underhill. Avain Demography Unit.

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