the king of gulls - the largest gull in the world. not a herring gull. not a lesser black-backed gull. yes, they are opportunistic feeders - like most gulls - but they are also very highly predatory throughout their 25 years of life, which is not typical gull behavior. they tend to behave more like a raptor at times, killing anything smaller than them to eat. they eat fish. they eat chicks of other birds. they eat puffins and ducks and terns. they eat babies.
they look. upon the top of the tallest structure in new york city, stand the sentinels. these sentinels are throughout the state, and indeed the country. uniform in appearance, they watch over all the major tourist sites, no matter the weather, at all times of the day. they look. they view upon niagara falls, the statue of liberty, ellis island, and here on top of the empire state building. keeping a watchful eye.