Laughing Gulls Offered Saline in Preference and Survival Tests

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Abstract
Adult laugh -ing gulls and chicks (Larus atricilla) were employed in 48-hr., 2-bottle drinking preference tests with NaCl and with seawater solutions. Also, laughing gull chicks were utilized in single-bottle NaCl acceptance tests. Both adults and chicks were tested for tolerance, as measured by survival, for seawater solutions provided as the drinking water. Responses to saline in the 2-bottle and single-bottle tests water were comparable and indicated indifference to lower and averseness to higher concentrations. In the survival tests, the chicks drank 50% seawater, and the adults drank full seawater without fatalities or loss of body weight.