HARTLAUB’S gulls are very common residents in the Western Cape and Namibia.
Only vagrants occur in KZN.
The call is a strident kwarrr or staccato ‘kek-kek-kek’.
The habitat for these gulls are seashore, offshore islands, the city centre of Cape Town, rubbish dumps, cultivated farmland and estuaries.
They are highly gregarious, usually fairly tame but wary. They will follow fishing vessels for scraps and offal, but are seldom far out to sea. They also feed on dead fish and earthworms.
Hartluab’s gulls catch insects at street lights at night, and forages by wading in shallow water. They often bathe in urban ponds and fountains.
Breeding season is April to September. They lay one to three greenish ochre eggs in a bowl shaped nest made of roots, grass, twigs and bleached snail shells.
Incubation is about 25 days and nestlings remain for about 40 days.
There is no Zulu name and in Afrikaans they are known as Hartlaubse meeu.
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