Thursday's bird is flying inVenice

This is your basic seagull. But it's a seagull who lives in Venice. So it's a little more special than basic, if you think being a "citizen" of Venice is extraordinary.

On the other hand, I guess you could say that our Virginia seagulls seem to look a lot like the Venetian seagulls.

Interestingly, while many people consider the seagull to be somewhat of a nuisance bird (swooping in to eat your potato chips from your beach picnic, for example), the Venetians love the seagulls because they feed on the pigeons that threaten to overwhelm the entire Piazza San Marco.

Since Venice passed an ordinance (or something) forbidding people to feed the pigeons, the population is definitely dwindling. But the guidebooks still give advice about how to deal with pigeon poop (let it dry in your hair, and flick it off, but get it off your clothing ASAP).

Happy Thursday!