Processed GPS tracks for breeding Herring Gulls from four colonies in the eastern Gulf of Maine, Canada

Opportunist gulls use anthropogenic food subsidies, which can bolster populations, but negatively influence sensitive local ecosystems and areas of human settlement. In the eastern Gulf of Maine, Canada, breeding herring gulls Larus argentatus have access to resources from aquaculture, fisheries, and mink farms, but the relative influence of industry on local gull populations is unknown. In 2014, 2015, and 2019, we acquired and processed tracking data from GPS devices on 39 incubating herring gulls at four colonies with access to resources within the Canadian portion of the eastern Gulf of Maine marine and watershed ecosystem: three island colonies in Nova Scotia: Bon Portage (43.47°N, 65.75°W), Whitehead (43.66°N, 65.87°W), Brier (44.26°N, 66.38°W), and one island colony in New Brunswick: Kent (44.58°N, 66.76°W). The data in this repository were processed according to the methods provided in the article indicate below, and were used to address three main objectives (a) assess use of natural and anthropogenic habitats by herring gulls from multiple colonies, (b) evaluate variation among colonies in use of distinct resource types within these habitats, and (c) highlight areas of high gull:industry interaction. The results are published in the journal Wildlife Biology (doi: 10.2981/wlb.00804).See README.txt file and methods in Gutowsky et al. (2021) The influence of multiple industries on the behaviour of breeding gulls from four colonies across the eastern Gulf of Maine, Canada. Wildlife Biology. doi: 10.2981/wlb.00804