28/05/2026
The rescue is absolutely is undated with messages about gull chicks already 🙈
Some gull chicks arriving with guardians will sadly die - nothing compares with their mother and they need to stay with them wherever possible. They have much less chance with rescues.
Spaces to help baby gulls are also really limited folks, we don't have enough gull guardians to help look after the hundreds of local baby gulls in danger this summer.
Moreover there are thousands of baby gulls in a summer that will experience danger when they come down off roofs onto residential streets.
We cannot touch or interfere with any nesting seagulls, their young, their nest or eggs, as to do so would be illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, unless: an adult or young seagull is sick, injured or orphaned.
Bear in mind that parent gulls tend to feed their young around 3 to 6 times a day so sometimes 'orphan' gulls are in fact not orphans and the parents are due to return later. We cannot take baby gulls away from their parents, it is simply cruel and moreover, there is simply nowhere to put them.
We have appealed repeatedly on the page for people to volunteer to become gull guardians and open up their sheds/garages and gardens to orphan gulls that are in need of shelter and we had little response sadly. We have only 3 gull guardians who can take fledglings and only 3 guardians who can take nestlings - that's sadly it.
Here's some general advice:
*Fallen off a roof? 🏠🏠🏠- Unfortunately with full-time work and running the rescue we can't be in two places at once and come out to replace the gull on the roof or high up on a garage, shed or extension. We require members of the public/finders to help too by arranging a roofer, friend, family member or neighbour to help. Ask around on community groups on facebook for ladders!
* Being divebombed? ☂️☂️☂️ - Use an umbrella to protect your head. If you feed the gull family with wet cat or dog food they will likely stop doing it.
* Dogs can't go in the garden? 🐶🐶🐶 - Consider taking them for a walk instead. It's only for a short time.
* Got cats? 🐈⬛🐈⬛🐈⬛ - Yep we have too, and we manage to run a rescue here! Keep them in if you can, use a litter tray, it's a sacrifice that is short term so another animal can live.
* Spot one on the street 🕊🕊🕊 - Don't just take it home, it may well have parents looking after it who have gone to find food. Place it in a garden or high up so it is safer.
Nestlings and Chicks
As soon as baby gulls appear on roofs we start getting messages that babies have fallen off the roof. These should be replaced using the directions set out below.
Very small chicks up to 3 days old do need the warmth of their parents at night and will need access to the nest so please use ladders or find a roofer to help you pop them back up on the roof. Care needs to be taken not to place them on the wrong roof or close to neighbouring nesting gulls.
Placing chicks older than 3 days on top of a garage, shed, extension or even back on to the main house roof is the best thing to do. The parent will continue to look after them and feed them. Ensuring fresh water is available to drink is very beneficial for them in these situations and you can feed wet dog or cat food too. It is common for gulls to be calling to their parents, whining and whimpering, this is normal and not a sign of distress. All young gulls do this even up on top of the roofs, this is them just asking for attention and food. It is nothing to worry about. Parents feed baby gulls around 4 times a day so will not be with them constantly.
Fledglings
Fledglings can be identified as those whose wing tips overlap just above the base of the tail. Ideally there should be at least a 1cm overlap. As with all fledgling birds they are unsuccessful when they take their first flight and land in gardens. They need to spend time building up the muscle strength in their wings before they can fly.
Fledglings should be left alone even if on the ground unless injured, in a dangerous location like a busy road or in a confined space (6ft x 6ft or very high walls i.e. more than 12ft high but depends on size of the confined space).
Where fledgling gulls have jumped off a roof and into a road please move them into the garden of the house where they came from to keep them safe (ideally a back garden may be safer than a front garden near a road).
You can try to get them off the ground again onto a shed or garage, but they may well jump straight off again. During this time the parents often withhold food in an attempt to encourage the gulls to fly up to them, this is normal. Providing fresh water is useful. Fledglings of all species are at risk of being taken by predators, this is natural and so rescue centres don't normally take in fledglings just because there are predators around. Facilities sadly do not exist to take in the millions of fledglings which would need taking into care if they were to do this.
Divebombing
If you have dogs that usually use your garden, we would advise you to take it for a walk instead. This is a temporary measure until the birds can fly, please be patient and kind.
Rescues cannot take babies away from their parents just because they are an inconvenience, it is cruel and there simply isn't the space for all the baby gulls that have fallen from roofs.
Nests cannot be disturbed unless using a general licence from Natural England. Dive Bombing and noisy gulls are NOT a suitable reason for using a general licence or to disturb them. They will move on as soon as the babies can fly - please be patient.
The Fylde needs to pull together to help them. Please think about how you can help them get back to their parents if they are uninjured. Rescues seem like an easy option but they do not offer the best chance at all and spaces are so limited.
Here's our advice page:
https://padlet.com/m_greenhalgh/help-for-gulls-page-brambles-wildlife-rescue-71k4a0lzc0zmtyy4
