Threatened species of gull triples number of nests in Ria Formosa

The Audouin’s Gull is declining worldwide – but in Portugal, in the Algarve’s Ria Formosa, this seabird has established its largest colony in the world, tripling this year the number of nests counted by experts to 7,000. This shows, say conservationists at SPEA (the Portuguese society for bird protection) the importance (and added responsibility) of nature conservation. Audouin’s gull, which has grey legs and a red beak, feeds mainly on fish, taking advantage of fishing discards. It only occasionally consumes waste from rubbish dumps or other types of human waste, says SPEA.