Laughing Gull Dominance Heirarchy

Establishing Domince. These two individual Laughing Gulls are in a competitive interaction to establish their place in the pecking order in the flock. Both of these individuals participated in this behavior for nearly 10 minutes with neither giving ground. Toward the end of this clip, they finally engaged in a physical confrontation.

Usually, these "pecking order" interactions end quickly with no physical contact. The pecking order is a flock behavior that serves to minimize physical interations and associated injuries. Each individual eventually learns its place in the flock.

In this case, the dominanant individual is not yet clearly established. Watch these birds carefully and note the various behaviors used to express dominance without physical contact, such as pecking at the sand, a displacement behavior to avoid pecking at each other. Note the posturing, the distance between them, the orientation to each other etc. Birdwatching is more than just IDing a bird. These activities are what makes birdwatching so very interesting.

Also note that the nearby birds seem to be indifferent to this activity.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• intraspecific behavior
• gulls
• peck order
• displacement behavior
• competition
• bird watching
• birding
• display

[nsutley]

Thanks for the video. I had two seagulls in my backyard displaying this behavior. I thought they were injured or something. Glad they are okay. I didn't stick around to see who won though.

[Trishrg]

I was looking for "displacement behavior" info, and found your clip. Really cool.!!!

I'm trying to find something relating to birds, specifically barn owls. This is as close as I've gotten so far! Thanks,