Gulls

Gulls

Gulls
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 4 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	8.6

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		herring, pose, traces, wingspan, commonly, majority, contrast, encounter, hence, species, scavenge, title, adult, honorary, presence, lead
	content words:		National Wildlife Strike Database, Federal Aviation Administration, New York, North America, United States, South Africa

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Gulls

¹     Noisy and abrasive, gulls are bullies. They pick on birds of a smaller size so they can devour their victims' eggs and chicks. They circle around us eyeing our food and waiting for an opportune moment to come and snatch any scrap they can get. They make a mess when they congregate near garbage dumps to scavenge for something edible. All told, gulls are aggressive feeders. They dine on anything they can eat. Hence, eggs, young birds, fish, crabs, worms, reptiles, amphibians, and even rubbish are all on their menu. Sometimes, their quest for food could lead them to fly through airfields; undoubtedly, such action can jeopardize gulls' lives, damage aircrafts, and pose threats to passengers on board.

²     Of course, gulls are not the only birds that give pilots and airport officials headaches. According to the National Wildlife Strike Database compiled by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), geese, doves, and sparrows are also the usual suspects. Nonetheless, by far, gulls are responsible for most incidents. For example, from 1990 to 2004, gulls were the culprits behind more than half of bird strikes in the state of New York alone!

³     Of around 50 different species of gulls, all have webbed feet and slightly hooked beaks. When they are still juveniles, most wear mottled brown or gray outfits. As they are ready to enter adulthood at about the age of three, they change their feather colors to a mixture of white, gray, and black. The ivory gull (scientific name: Pagophila eburnea) living near the Arctic is the only gull species that begs to differ. Young ivory gulls have white feathers speckled with black spots around their faces and on their wings. Adult ivory gulls have no traces of black smudges. Their plumage is entirely white, which sets in a sharp contrast from their black legs and yellow-tipped black beaks.

Paragraphs 4 to 5:
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