Amar Ayyash – February 2026

7:00 pm, Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Linder Theater, American Museum of Natural History
Enter via the West 77th Street Entrance, between
Central Park West and Columbus Ave., New York City
Free and open to the public.

You Must Register In Advance To Attend In Person. In Person Registration Is Now Closed.

You Can attend online via Zoom.
Click here to register for the Zoom webinar.

Humans and Gulls: A Complex Relationship

Among the world’s “seabirds”, gulls are the most accessible to humans, invading our most immediate surroundings. Gulls are sometimes perceived as 2nd class avian creatures. This, along with the identification challenges they present and their readiness to hybridize presents a love-hate relationship for many birders. Yet some gull species are among the most coveted birds on any birder’s list (think Ross’s, Ivory and Sabine’s Gull). This makes for an interesting juxtaposition. Do we like some gulls and look past others? Amar Ayyash will take us through an entertaining and intriguing exploration of the natural history of gulls, including their thorny taxonomy and identification.

Amar Ayyash is both an expert on the gulls of North America and an evangelist for “gull recreation”. He coordinates the IOS Annual Gull Frolic on Lake Michigan, hosts the popular website anythinglarus.com, and is often found speaking at birding events throughout the continent. Much of his free time is dedicated to traveling the world to photograph and study gulls. Ayyash has published a number of papers and articles on gull identification, distribution, and molt, and he is the author of the authoritative guide to North American Gulls, The Gull Guide. Amar lives in northern Illinois where he teaches mathematics.