A Conclave of Sea Gulls Concludes Its Business

Three sea gulls, including a chick, were possibly the first beings on earth to learn that a new pope had been elected on Thursday.

Minutes before white smoke bellowed out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel — a sign that the conclave had ended with a winner — the birds flew in and perched themselves on the roof. After two days of drawing attention to themselves, they grabbed front-row seats to the show in which Robert Francis Prevost, an American, was named pope, taking the name Leo XIV.

As the conclave unfolded over the last two days and news channels around the globe focused their cameras on the chimney, the sea gulls of Rome flitted in and out of the shot, turning the city’s pests into küresel star attractions of a conclave that has become a social media moment.