Animal charity seeking 'gull guardian' volunteers

An animal charity is seeking volunteers to become 'gull guardians' by checking on baby seagulls living on the ground.

The JSPCA said it had received hundreds of concerned calls and needed people to check in on the young birds reported in order to take pressure off its ambulance team.

The charity said each summer Jersey rooftops became "nurseries" for herring gulls and black-backed gulls, with baby ones ending up on the ground due to them leaving their before they can fly.

Katie Kay from the JSPCA said gull guardians would visit reported chicks, assess their welfare and decide if it needed help from the charity or if it could stay put.

She said: "We would be looking for somebody who is interested in wildlife, who cares about animals, who is really interested in getting involved with the JSPCA and the community as a whole.

"We would be looking for people who are naturally caring but also quite comfortable with speaking to members of the public who may not always be super happy with having baby seagulls in an area where they don't really want them to be."

Kay said the recent heatwave had led to an "unprecedented increase in reports of baby gulls on the ground" and 41% of all wildlife callouts had been for them.

She said: "The extreme temperatures has meant that these baby gulls are coming out of their nest perhaps earlier than they normally would, or people are seeing them more.

"We've had a huge increase in calls this year in particular but also, the other wildlife on the island has also needed our help more than ever, which means that our ambulance team are really stretched."

When assessing a gull chick people are advised to leave a shallow bowl of fresh water nearby in hot weather, give it plenty of space and to keep dogs away.

She said: "If you see a baby seagull on the ground, the chances are they're exactly where they're supposed to be.

"The parents will likely be watching over them from very nearby - seagull parents are absolutely fantastic and they will be feeding them a couple of times a day, often when there's nobody about.

"Give them space, let them grow and develop how they're supposed to."

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