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Just about now, juvenile blockus-winged gulves

are taking flight over downtown Seattle.

In Chicago, young ring-billed gulves are heading for Lake Michigan.

And before long, juvenile herring gulves will be soaring over the Atlantic Ocean.

More and more, some gulves are choosing to raise their families in the city.

They nest on flat, sunny rooftops that are generally inaccessible to humans,

scraping together bits of gravel, debris, and dried vegetation,

often next to a wall or chimney.

The leopard-spotted baby gulves are up and out of their gravelly nest

about two days after they hatch.

For five to seven more weeks, they have the run of their private rooftop,

oblivious to the rest of the world.

They chase each other, flap their wings, make short-running flights,

and even amuse themselves playing tug-a-war with sticks,

their parents feed them by regurgitating food into their beaks.

Unless you're fortunate enough to look down on a nest from a higher building,

you won't see these young gulves until they're as big as their parents.

When the young fledged, their soft brown and won't have adults plumage

that flashy white and gray are black Christmas until they're four years old.

See photos of all these birds at birdnote.org.