Great black-backed gull stomach contents of great black-backed gulls was made up of birds, while a further 17% of stomach contents was made up of tern eggs alone. Adult or fledged juveniles of various bird species have also been predaceously attacked. Some fully-fledged or adult birds observed to be hunted in flight or on the ground by great black-backed gulls have included "Anas" ducks, ruddy ducks ("Oxyura jamaicensis"), buffleheads ("Bucephala albeola"), Manx shearwaters ("Puffinus puffinus"), pied-billed grebes ("Podilymbus podiceps"), common moorhens ("Gallinula chloropus"), terns, Atlantic puffins ("Fratercula arctica"), coots ("Fulica" ssp.), glossy ibises ("Plegadis falcinellus"), rock pigeons ("Columba livia") and even predatory birds
Chagos Marine Protected Area Chagos are considered to be of international importance. The archipelago harbours eighteen different species of breeding birds and ten of its islands have been designated as Important Bird Areas (IBAs) by Birdlife International, making the region the most diverse breeding seabird community in this tropical region, though the presence of human-introduced rats on several of the other islands severely hinder seabird nesting on these. Five species are considered to be breeding in internationally significant numbers: the sooty tern ("Sterna fuscata"); the brown and lesser noddy ("Anous stolidus" and "Anous tenuirostris"); the red-footed booby ("Sula sula") and the wedge-tailed shearwater ("Puffinus