Are Ocean City's Seagulls Finally Learning Good Manners?

The squawking seagulls that swoop down to snatch a quick meal of French fries and other goodies from unsuspecting tourists on the Ocean City Boardwalk seem to be on their best behavior lately.

Earlier this month, three members of City Council had complained that the gulls were more brazen this summer and appeared to be gathering on the Boardwalk in larger numbers – despite measures to chase them away, including the use of trained falcons and hawks to scare them off.

“For some reason, I guess they really love French fries,” Councilman Keith Hartzell surmised at the governing body’s Aug. 8 meeting.

However, Hartzell provided a much more encouraging update on the gulls during the Aug. 22 Council meeting.

“I was able to eat pizza last night without being attacked,” he said while reporting that gull activity appears to be down in recent weeks.

Hartzell congratulated East Coast Falcons and city officials for a “job well done.” Ocean City has hired East Coast Falcons for the last six summers to keep the annoying and aggressive gulls in check. The company uses its trained falcons and hawks – and has even put an intimidating owl to work at times – to chase the gulls away from the Boardwalk.

Despite those measures, Hartzell and fellow Councilmen Tony Polcini and Jody Levchuk said during the Aug. 8 meeting that there were times when the gulls were congregating on the Boardwalk in larger numbers and making an even bigger pest of themselves than usual.

Half-joking, Hartzell wondered whether the seagulls are getting “smarter.”

    Falconer Angelina Caselli, of East Coast Falcons, leads a raptor down the Boardwalk to patrol for pesky gulls in August of 2023.
  

When East Coast Falcons was awarded a $328,000 contract early this year, the company was given the responsibility of shooing away gulls in the downtown business district, the 34th Street business district and other areas of town – in addition to the Boardwalk.

The Council members acknowledged that it is impossible to keep the Boardwalk and other parts of town completely free of gulls.

“You’re never going to have zero seagulls at the shore,” Levchuk said in an interview. “But I would rather have a small seagull problem than a big seagull problem.”

Levchuk, whose family owns the Jilly’s branded shops on the Boardwalk, including Jilly’s French Fry Factory, speculated during the Aug. 8 Council meeting that perhaps it is becoming more challenging to chase away the gulls because East Coast Falcons now patrols a larger area of town than just the Boardwalk.

Both Hartzell and Levchuk said they believe East Coast Falcons is doing a good job overall in controlling the gulls.

Hartzell’s update on Aug. 22 may indicate that the gull-abatement measures are working better now, driving the pesky birds back into their natural habitat of the bays, marshlands and ocean.

As part of its contract with Ocean City, East Coast Falcons and its trained raptors will remain in town until Oct. 19 to continue to chase away the gulls.

    The pesky birds snatch a meal.