Collecting ‘gourmet’ eggs from black-headed gulls should be banned, says RSPB

Black-headed gull eggs can sell for £8 each as a delicacy but the RSPB says collecting them for food is ‘unsustainable, unhelpful and should stop’. Photograph: Matthew Scott/Alamy

Licences have been issued for more than 160,000 eggs to be taken from black-headed gull nests since 2019, government data shows, as conservationists call for the eggs to be “taken off all menus”.

Each spring, thousands of eggs are collected from the amber-listed seabird’s nests and sold under licences issued by the government’s wildlife watchdog, Natural England. They are considered a delicacy in fine-dining restaurants, known for their creamy yellow yolks and beautiful speckled shells, and can sell for more than £8 each.