Gull Caption Contest

Celebrating the Humor of Gulls

Every day, April 21–27, we asked the audience to caption charming gull photos on our @cornellbirds Instagram feed. Here are the top 3 liked captions for each gull photo. Thanks for helping us determine the ultimate winners!

Each day’s winning finalists—and a randomly selected group of seven voters—will receive exciting prizes, including exciting goodies from Bird Collective, and free access to Bird Academy’s brand-new gull identification course.

When you realize your Zoom was unmuted this whole time…
–@kevinz.photos

Runners Up:
Me when I somehow correctly identify a Gull
–@natbrightstar

MUSTAAAARD!
–@ekarsh644

Eight birds fly together over the sea. One hooded gull is noticeably different from the surrounding shorebirds. — Tuesday, April 22

When you lie on your resume but still get the job
–@krutikamdar9899

Runners Up:
I’m about 1,000 miles too late to say something now…
–@_meg.preston

Don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious…
–@taylor.catlin

A gull stands calmly in a burning landfill — Wednesday, April 23

“This is fine”
–@astridarellanoo

Runners Up:
When the world is on fire but you still gotta slay
–@jasmine_the_robot

Goodness gracious, great gulls of fire!
–@makenzie.evanss

Today’s prizes are provided by Bird Collective!

When you are about to go to bed but can’t remember if you turned off the stove
–@s_poni_avo

Runners Up:
“Can you fly a plane?”
“No, but how hard can it be?”
–@kevinz.photos

I swear I JUST heard a new bird
–@strawberrytoadd

Yes, I would still love you if you were a worm.
–@natbrightstar

Runners Up:
Do you still love me?
–@strawberrytoadd

Look! I found the feather you gave me on our first date!
–@hanabird__

“Have two,” they said. “They’ll play together,” they said.
–@imstillheather

Runners Up:
Don’t make me turn this migration around!
–@jasonius_olona

Should’ve put them in summer camp.
–@garbagerattt

When you’re eating soft food and something crunches in your mouth
–@janine.mombourquette

Runners Up:
When someone tells you to “just relax.”
–@kevinz.photos

When you try to catch the last chip and gravity says, “not today”
–@bing111

Featured Photographers

Ring-billed Gull by Derek Hudgins
Franklin’s Gull by Phil Pickering
Glaucous Gull by Anonymous
Ring-billed Gull by Liam Huber
Red-legged Kittiwakes by Michael Stubblefield
European Herring Gull by Carsten Sekula
Great Black-backed Gull by Ryan Sanderson

Thank You for Voting!

This contest has ended, and we are reaching out to the winners. Thank you for participating!

Prizes

There is more than one way to win! You could win a prize by having one of the three chosen comments for each post OR you could be one of the lucky voters chosen to win a prize in our random drawing! Prizes will be sent after voting has ended on or around May 2, 2025. (Official rules here.) Here’s the full rundown:

First Place Prizes – 7 total

Six (6) Free course of choice on Bird Academy

One (1) Year-long patch subscription to Bird Collective¹

Second Place Prizes – 7 total

Six (6) Free Be a Better Birder: Gull Identification Courses

One (1) Great Gull Island T-Shirt¹

Third Place Prizes – 7 total

Three (3) New York Puzzle Company Jigsaw Puzzles – Illustrated by Cornell Lab Bartels Science Illustrators

Four (4) single BirdCollective Patches

Random drawing prizes – 7 total

These prizes are given away to seven randomly selected winners from the pool of voters.

Six (6) Free Be a Better Birder: Gull Identification Courses