Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Home
Today's Show: Feathered Females in Charge
Wilson's Phalarope shouts orders
Listen In
  • Today's Show
  • Listen
    • Daily Shows
    • Threatened
    • Grouse
    • BirdNote Presents
    • How to Listen
  • Explore
    • Field Notes
    • Sights & Sounds
    • Birdwatching
    • Resources for Educators
  • How to Help Birds
    • At Home
    • In Your Community
    • Success Stories
  • About
    • The BirdNote Story
    • The Team
    • Partners
    • For Radio Stations
    • Funding
    • Contact Us
    • FAQs
    • Support BirdNote
  • Donate

Seagull Calling Contest

Cawing all "seagulls!"
Subscribe to the Podcast
Download
  • Share This:
  • Share to Facebook
  • Share to Twitter
  • Share to Email
Glaucous-winged Gull
© Jacob McGinnis CC

There are more than two dozen species of gulls living in North America. Some people might dismiss them as just “seagulls.” But not the people of Port Orchard, a small town on Washington State’s Puget Sound. Each year, hundreds of people gather at the town’s waterfront in late May for the annual Seagull Calling Festival. Contestants — most of them in grade school — chirp, caw, and flap their way down the beach.

Hey, Teachers! Check out the educators' resources at BirdNote.org.

  • Full Transcript
  • Credits

BirdNote®

“Seagull” Calling Contest

Written and Recorded by Jason Saul

This is BirdNote.
[Sounds of Washington State gulls — Glaucous-winged, Western...]
There are more than two dozen species of gulls living in North America.
Some people might dismiss them as just “seagulls.” But not the people of Port Orchard, a small town on Washington’s Puget Sound.
[Crowd and Caw]
In Port Orchard, gulls are celebrated. Each year, hundreds of people gather at the town’s waterfront in late May for the annual Seagull Calling Festival.
[Caw]
Contestants — most of them in grade school — chirp, caw, and flap their way down the beach.
[Caw]
The town’s mascot is Seymour the Seagull. He’s at the festival, too.
[Seymour’s half-hearted CAW]
Organizers say they respect the ecological niche gulls fill — and it’s just fun for the kids.
[Caw]
The gulls along the beach definitely look amused.
[Caw]
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
Head over to BirdNote’s website for photos, videos, and more fun facts about the birds you heard today, plus find links to lots of scientific resources and a whole section for teachers, too. Start at BirdNote.org.
                                                                               ###
Bird sounds recorded by BirdNote’s Jason Saul.
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Managing Producer: Jason Saul
Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone
© 2017 Tune In to Nature.org   October 2017/2019   Narrator: Michael Stein

ID#            gull-09-2017-10-09     gull-09

http://www.wec.ufl.edu/birds/SurveyDocs/species_list.pdf
 

Jason Saul
Writer
Michael Stein
Narrator
Support More Shows Like This
Tagsfestival humor Pacific Northwest vocalization

Related Resources

Read more about Port Orchard’s Seagull Calling Festival and their Seagull Splat…Watch a recap of Port Orchard's 2016 Seagull Calling ContestWatch contestants in 2011 Port Orchard Seagull Calling ContestAstonishing facts about gulls More at All About Birds - Glaucous-winged Gull

More About These Birds

Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens)

Larus glaucescens

Sights & Sounds

Related Field Notes

March 10, 2014

See More than Whooping Cranes at the Whooping Crane Festival

By Chris Peterson
Chris Peterson is the founder and executive producer of BirdNote.
March 7, 2014

All Aboard to See Whooping Cranes!

By Chris Peterson
Chris Peterson is the founder and executive producer of BirdNote.

Birds connect us with the joy and wonder of nature. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world – and take steps to protect it.

Support BirdNote

  • Daily Shows
  • Field Notes
  • BirdNote Presents
  • Sights & Sounds
  • About BirdNote
  • Contact BirdNote
Sign up for our newsletter!
  • BirdNote on Facebook
  • BirdNote on Twitter
  • BirdNote on Instagram

Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.

  • Privacy Policy