Seagulls

Seagulls, the cries of seagulls and seagulls that attack have, over the years, become part of everyday life for many Danes.

We help you get rid of seagulls.
All weekdays: 07:00 - 23:00.

Seagulls

Residential developments are being built like never before, especially around the old harbour areas in the cities, where you may find that an annoying neighbour moves in with you as well.

The ocean view comes with a price, since the areas near the sea are the seagulls’ natural habitat.

Combating seagulls with a drone.

5 quick questions about seagulls

Seagulls begin building their nests in February and March, and are typically ready to breed during April.

Seagulls return to the previous years’ nests. In June and July, the young gulls are large enough to leave their nests. They are not always fully-fledged.

 

Hunting season only applies to herring gulls. The other seagull species are protected. Thus, it is not permitted to dispose of seagull eggs unless you have a special permit.

In the spring, you are allowed to dispose of old nests or nests under construction without a special permit.

Seagulls built their nests in environments where they feel safe. They also choose locations that are close to sources of food. This is typically on roofs, landings and balconies.

 

Quick response when you need help

At Absolut Skadedyrsservice, we are aware of what customers – both private and commercial – need quickly in the process when it comes to pest control. Therefore, we also have a quick response time for our interventions.

In case of suddenly occurring pest problems, we provide fast pest control. This is agreed individually and primarily applies to food companies.

Seagulls are a nuisance to Danes

In urban areas, seagulls are a nuisance in numerous ways. The seagulls call to each other and during the period from late spring to late summer in particular, they make an awful lot of noise, since this is when they have young gulls in their nests. They will attack anything they feel is a threat to their nests, eggs and young and they are very aggressive during this period.

Cries of seagulls and attacking seagulls are not the only things that are a nuisance if you have seagulls close to your home. Their droppings can damage cars, masonry, roofs and windows if they are not cleaned off. Their droppings contain matter that corrodes, and can cause long-lasting damage.

In Denmark, it is mostly the common gull and the herring gull that move into the cities. Of the two, the herring gull causes the most problems and is the biggest nuisance to people, since it is loud and can be aggressive.

The common gull is mostly placid and is not as much of a nuisance to people.

Seagull prevention and control

If you are plagued by seagulls, there are a lot of small measures you can take. You can put up wires, spikes or netting on roofs and sills to prevent the seagulls from building nests. However, methods using wires, spikes and netting have the disadvantage, that this will merely shift the seagull problem to another building nearby. In some instances, the seagulls will even find their way around the safeguards.

The seagull population can be kept down by removing all the nests that are just being built between January and March.

During this period, the seagulls build their nests but have not yet laid eggs or had any young, so you may remove them without a special permit during this time.

If you wish to get rid of the seagulls by removing nests with eggs and young, you need a special permit from The National Forest and Nature Agency, as seagulls are protected during the breeding season in Denmark. This means that during certain periods, no seagull control can be carried out.

One method of regulation used in some places is to shoot the seagulls. This is done by professional hunters who shoot seagulls around housing estates on a regular basis. However, many citizens are not too keen on having people shooting near their homes for safety reasons. Drones are a great and safe alternative to this.

We help you get rid of seagulls.
All weekdays: 07:00 - 23:00."

Using drones to remove seagull’s nests

It can be difficult crawling around on roofs searching for seagull’s nests. However, technology is on our side, and we now have a new tool in the fight against seagulls – drones.

Drones have been tried out as a method of removing seagull´s nests in various places. The drones are used to locate the nests on roofs and observe the activity in the nests.

Once the seagulls have laid their eggs, the drones are sent up to spray the eggs with paraffin oil. The paraffin oil creates a membrane around the eggs and prevents the formation of embryos. If you merely remove the eggs, you run the risk that the seagulls will simply lay new eggs. That is why it makes sense to cover the eggs in paraffin oil to prevent the eggs from ever hatching in the first place.

You need a special permit to remove seagull’s nests or treat them with paraffin oil. When you decide to use drones to treat seagull eggs, you also need – in addition to the permit you need to obtain from The National Forest and Nature Agency – a qualified drone pilot´s licence and to register all of your flights correctly. It is not permitted to fly a drone everywhere and there are many rules that need to be followed. Thus, it is not possible to use drones everywhere in the country.

The most common seagull species in Denmark

There are 10 different seagull species that breed in Denmark. Of these, only 5 are commonly seen in natural habitats:

The black-headed gull is the smallest of the five, and it is also the most common one, and is also widespread all over the rest of Europe. The largest part of the population are migratory birds that go south during the winter. Black-headed gulls breed in large colonies consisting of up to 25,000 black-headed gulls. In the colonies, they begin building their nests in late April or early May. The black-headed gull is protected unconditionally in Denmark, and the population has declined in recent years. However, the population still numbers around 80,000 breeding pairs.

Bekæmpelse af Sølvmågen

Sølvmågens tilflytning til byerne har ført til et stigende antal konflikter i forhold til mennesker. 

På vigtige ynglelokaliteter for sårbare kystfugle kan sølvmåger også have en negativ effekt på ynglesuccessen for disse arter, så på baggrund heraf er der blevet indført jagttid på sølvmåger fra 1. september til 31. januar efter, at den har været fredet i nogle år.

At gå på mågejagt kræver opfyldelse af en række krav. Disse krav betyder bl.a., at jagttiden sjældent kan udnyttes i byområder. Som udgangspunkt er reder, æg og yngel beskyttet, og der må ikke ske forsætlig forstyrrelse og ødelæggelse af fuglenes reder og ynglesteder med æg og yngel.

Naturstyrelsen kan give tilladelse til regulering af skadevoldende vildt for bl.a. at imødegå fare for mennesker eller menneskers sundhed.

The type of food seagulls feed on varies from species to species, and also depends on the habitat they have chosen. Most seagulls who live by the coast, feed mainly on fish, although eggs and young from other birds can also be found on the menu.

In urban areas, the seagulls feed on anything and everything from insects to worms to other birds’ eggs and young. Furthermore, they often choose the easiest source of food – rubbish bins. If you have skips and bins that do not close well, that´s an easy spot for the seagulls to find food.

Previously, many seagulls were found around waste disposal sites, since a lot of the edible waste was easy to get to. This is not the case anymore in Denmark, but we still see many seagulls around the cities. They have adapted to life in the city and, in areas with a lot of people, fast food and open rubbish bins, provide more than enough food for a small flock of seagulls.

Get help with seagull control

Do you have a seagull problem? Perhaps you even consider seagulls as pests! Whether you live in Copenhagen or anywhere else in the country, contact Absolut Skadedyrsservice A/S and let’s have a conversation about how we can help solve your problem.

Weekdays: 07:00 - 23:00.

Facts about seagulls

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