Residents are being urged not to feed “menace gulls” their lunch in a bid to manage the number of nuisance birds ‘dive bombing’ people. 

The new plea comes as West Dunbartonshire Council looks to work with the Scottish Government and other local authorities to manage the number of gulls threatening people socialising near nesting spaces, and reduce the impact they are having on communities. 

An appeal to install gull proof bins along West Dunbartonshire’s waterfront was issued earlier this year but the council was then advised a third party would need to apply on their behalf to the common good fund for money to secure these bins. 

During Thursday’s full council meeting a motion to promote a service introduced in 2014 for gulls nesting on domestic properties while recognising the problems that seabirds can cause during the breeding season was agreed by councillors. 

For the last seven years homeowners have been able to contact the council to remove nests and eggs from rooftops at the start of the breeding season. 

The council is also looking to arrange a briefing with elected members to discuss the findings of a seabird census which is due to be published later this year. 

Speaking on the motion, councillor Martin Rooney said: “There is a feeling that there is an increase in the number of the gulls in West Dunbartonshire which can be a nuisance and a threat to people who are wandering into an area where a gull is nesting.

“They might not be aware of this and suddenly they are getting dive bombed. If the population [of sea birds] is going up they might be adding to the mess in the area. We don’t know the answer to all of this.

“We have discussed the option of getting bins which seagulls and pigeons can’t get into. Birds are doing what they are meant to do, protecting their young, feeding and flying about the area.

“This motion is about promoting the service, asking for a joined up approach across Scotland and trying to establish if there is an increase in population in terms of gulls or whether that is a perception because we are seeing more coming into areas where there is regularly available food.”

SNP councillor Iain McLaren stated that research online demonstrates that gulls, particularly the herring gulls’ population has declined significantly from 1969 to 2019 by 60%. 

The figure from the seabird monitoring programme also shows that herring gulls are actually on the red list of conservation concern.  

His addendum requested that  the council be concerned about the decline in the natural nesting gull population since 1969 as reported by the Seabird Monitoring programme.

Councillor McLaren said: “There is scientific evidence that the reason these birds are coming inland is that their traditional nesting sites on the coast have been destroyed and their traditional food sources are in decline as well.

“I am not trying to deny there is a problem in some areas with nesting gulls being a bit of a menace.”

His colleague councillor Diane Docherty added: “We go on about there being a problem with seagulls but I would like to remind everyone to put their rubbish in the bin and not to throw half their lunch to the seagulls – you just encourage them.”