01-07-2014, 07:25 AM
I found this explanation
In explaining why Hawaii has no gulls, another Hawaii author writes that gulls are scavengers of shallow waters. Since the Hawaiian Islands are mostly mountaintops with no coastal shelf, they do not provide the kind of coastal food gulls prefer.
Another bird specialist reports in his book on Hawaii's seabirds that gulls are primarily a Northern Hemisphere group, and few are truly oceanic. He speculates that gulls are unable to take advantage of Hawaii's available food sources.
Although none of the world's 47 gull species breed in Hawaii, several routinely get here, either propelled by storm winds, as hitchhikers on ships or under their own wing power. Some annual visiting gull species are laughing, ring-billed, glaucous-winged, herring, Bonaparte's and Franklin's gulls.
Hawaii's limited mud flats and wetlands attract these lone wanderers, and they occasionally stay for months. Most, however, disappear after a few days, and none raise families here.
In explaining why Hawaii has no gulls, another Hawaii author writes that gulls are scavengers of shallow waters. Since the Hawaiian Islands are mostly mountaintops with no coastal shelf, they do not provide the kind of coastal food gulls prefer.
Another bird specialist reports in his book on Hawaii's seabirds that gulls are primarily a Northern Hemisphere group, and few are truly oceanic. He speculates that gulls are unable to take advantage of Hawaii's available food sources.
Although none of the world's 47 gull species breed in Hawaii, several routinely get here, either propelled by storm winds, as hitchhikers on ships or under their own wing power. Some annual visiting gull species are laughing, ring-billed, glaucous-winged, herring, Bonaparte's and Franklin's gulls.
Hawaii's limited mud flats and wetlands attract these lone wanderers, and they occasionally stay for months. Most, however, disappear after a few days, and none raise families here.