Steven Seagull returns to Duluth Super 8

Spring came knocking at the door of the West Duluth Super 8 Motel about 11:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Steven Seagull had returned. For seven springs, the ring-billed gull has tapped at the lobby’s front door.

The gull, which leaves each fall and returns the following spring, has made it a habit to tap at the door until a staff member feeds him a cake doughnut, general manager Jodi Chambers said.

She can be sure it’s the same gull because he behaves the same way every year.

“If it’s quiet in the lobby, you can hear him tapping on it,” Chambers said. “But if we’re busy, he starts squawking like crazy.”

Steven also learned to protect the hand that feeds him " Chambers said he chases away other gulls looking to get some of his food.

“We don’t feed them if there’s more than one, and he’s figured that out,” Chambers said.

Leslie Larsen, the education director of the Lake Superior Zoo, said Steven Seagull has learned to respond to motivation.

“What I do know is that animals, they don’t necessarily have to be intelligent to respond to what we call operant conditioning,” she said. “Without knowing it or meaning to, they’ve trained that gull. They’ve given him a positive consequence to come back.”

Steven Seagull’s habit is fine with Chambers because the gull is a hit with guests.

“The guests love it,” Chambers said. “I’ve had a few come in and say ‘We came to check out your bird.’”

He’s also endeared himself to Chambers.

“I was really happy to see him coming back today,” Chambers said. “Every time when he leaves I hope nothing happens to him.”