Man faces fine for bird beating

A Kansas man who severely beat a seagull on Laguna’s Main Beach Dec. 31 has been fined a total of $275 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Dragan Djuric, of Wichita, Kan., will be able to admit guilt and pay the fine, or face further prosecution for violating the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which makes it illegal to “take” — either by capturing or killing — any migratory bird in the U.S., said Ed Newcomer, a special agent with the department’s enforcement division in Torrance.

He has about 30 days to respond to the citation, which was sent last week, Newcomer said.

Djuric was accused of beating the bird, a Heermann’s Gull, with a stick after the bird and another gull allegedly went after his and his wife’s ice cream on the boardwalk. The bird was so badly injured it had to be euthanized at the Huntington Beach Wetlands and Wildlife Station. The other gull escaped to the ocean and could not be located.

The Orange County district attorney’s office declined to press misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty against Djuric, citing the gulls’ propensity for aggressive behavior.

Newcomer said that nearly all birds in the U.S. are federally protected.

Heermann’s Gulls are not considered endangered by the federal government, but the Audubon Society has the species on its “watch list” of rare or endangered birds.

Heermann’s Gulls originate on one group of islands off the coast of western Mexico, and migrate northward after breeding season as far as British Columbia, according to the Audubon Society’s website, www.audubon2.org.

They have light gray underparts, dark gray upper parts, a white head and a bright red bill with a black tip.

Not large birds themselves, they are known for attacking brown pelicans to steal fish and to chase other birds to dislodge food from their grasp.