Seagulls on the Chicago River

Seagulls on the Chicago River
Seagull on the Chicago River, River North, Chicago

I know that many people would place seagulls in the same “flying rat” category that pigeons are sometimes placed in, but I like them. Maybe it’s because I’ve always thought them to be more beautiful than pigeons, that I’m more tolerant of them. Or maybe I like them because I love to be by the water and they, to me, mean that water is near. Quite possibly it’s because they love seafood almost as much as me! Whatever the reason, I like seeing the seagulls on my walk from the subway to my office. My route takes me along the Chicago River and as I get closer to Lake Michigan I start to see them. Not tons, just a few.. just enough. The seagulls are a bit of softness against the tall, sharp buildings.

[Guest editor note: This photo that Rachelle took, reminds me a lot of the 3rd photo she has in her Roosevelt Island post. – Tien]

11 thoughts on “Seagulls on the Chicago River

  1. Tien you are good!
    You posted and even found a great referrence to another post. Those pics are so similiar – crazy!

  2. Is “seagull” the default term for all sea dwelling fowl? The two birds in those photos look very different, but I too would refer to both as “seagulls”. I think that in actuallity, there are many different kinds of gulls.

  3. yeah, that NY seagull is straight-up ghetto … probably makes ‘caine deliveries for his peeps in Bed-stuy or something. That chicago one is all huffy and puffy and beourgois and shit.

  4. I grabbed the old bird identification book of the shelf…

    There are a dozen or more different types of gulls in North America. The ring around its bill and the yellowish-green legs give the Chicago bird away as a ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis). The New York bird is an immature gull, probably either a first-winter glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens) or, more likely, a second-winter herring gull (Larus argentatus), the most widespread gull in North America.

  5. Seagulls are cool. They get to live at the beach. Rachelle when you get back you can read that I was in San Diego on vacation last weekend, Hyatt Islandia on the water. Love that town…

  6. i was at a lake and a saw 5 birds that looked almost like seagals but there was a black cap on top and it had a dark orange beak and when it cryed it was a diffrent sound the wing spand was also diffrent and it wasn’t used to humans for when a car came by the seagals landed way before the other did there were 5 of them and they also had a leader for one was far away and seemed to give the others orders for it never stopped crying if you know what this bird was can you please tell me?

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