FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Gull behavior on Clinch River

["Allan Trently" <ajtcorax@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I watched ring-billed gulls below Norris Dam on the Clinch River on February 
3rd.  The gulls were constantly flying up and down the river for short 
distances and intermittently diving into the water.  I noticed one bird had 
a fish in its bill after surfacing from a dive.  The fish was a threadfin 
shad.  There were many dead threadfins on the shoreline.  The shad are 
currently moving up-river to spawn.  This is a very stressful activity for 
the shad.  Many die on their migration up-river thus the dead shad on the 
shore.  The ring-bills take advantage of the 1000's of shad in the river.



Allan Trently, Terrestrial Zoologist
Tennessee Valley Authority
ajtcorax@xxxxxxxxxxx

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