My dog lives outdoors and thrives on “native pets” yet still is an actual participant in the family. He fetches, protects, smiles at us…he definitely doesn’t suck! He poops and pees so far away from the house that I have never seen it(unlike your seagulls). It’s a best of both worlds thing. Cats suck, and he eats those too.
Oh yeah, the experience you had with the birds and the documention are both neat! Looks fun.