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Name: Damien
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Age: N/A
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Question:
We noticed that seagulls were flying in flocks northwards while pelicans were flying south. Any significance for this behavior? Where do these birds go during a storm? Where do they go on a regular night?

Replies:
It sounds like what you've observed is local movement, not migration, perhaps in response to food supplies, resting areas, or other local factors. Most birds simply "sit out" storms wherever they happen to be, perhaps in the same place as their night roosts. Gulls in the Midwest tend to flock at night along large lakes - here in NE Illinois on Lake Michigan. Pelicans here generally roost at night on larger inland lakes. I am not sure about coastal behavior.

J. Elliott

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