Seagulls Roosting on Vatican Roof End up With VIP Seats to Papal Conclave

The Sistine Chapel seagulls are becoming the stars of the 2025 papal conclave.

The livestream of the historic event, which began in the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 7, panned to a flock of seagulls perched on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, including an adorable fluffy seagull chick, to the delight of viewers watching from home.

The birds stuck around for the secretive voting process, but appeared to clear out at 3 p.m. ET, when the cardinals expelled black smoke from the chimney to indicate that a decision on the next pope is yet to be made, per USA Today.

Social media users shared humorous reactions to the scene of the curious seagulls. “This seagull is all of us rn,” LifeSite Catholic wrote in a post on X.

“Shoutout to that one seagull locked in on the Conclave proceedings,” Father Cassidy Stinson wrote on X.

Alistair Bruce of Sky News and ABC shared a video of the whole seagull family, writing on X, “our #Conclave distraction … seagull family on our roof in Rome.”

Another user wrote excitedly on X, “ONE OF THE CONCLAVE SEAGULLS BROUGHT A BABY SEAGULL.”

The conclave seagulls appear to be a tradition. Several X accounts with posts dating back to 2013, during the conclave that ended with Pope Francis’ election, documented seagulls visiting the Vatican.

The live stream of the ongoing election among the College of Cardinals to select the late Pope Francis‘ successor has captured the attention of thousands of viewers online. The first pope from Latin America died on Monday, April 21, at 88.

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On Wednesday, May 7, only one vote was held among the College of Cardinals. Cardinals will be eligible to vote twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon going forward, the Vatican confirmed.

Cardinals under the age of 80 compose the voting body of the College of Cardinals eligible to vote for the 267th pope. Black smoke released from the Sistine Chapel indicates that voting is ongoing, while white smoke indicates that a new pope has been selected. The College of Cardinals is sequestered from the outside world throughout the papal election, in a process well documented in the 2024 film Conclave.

The conclave typically begins 15 to 20 days after the death of a pope, and takes as long as needed. Pope Francis was elected after only one day of voting. He was the first Latin American pope and held openly progressive views on immigration and the LGBTQ+ community.

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a Pope Francis expert and professor of American Studies and History at the University of Notre Dame, previously spoke to PEOPLE regarding the process, which dates back to the 13th century.

“So, the proceedings of the conclave are secret,” Cummings told PEOPLE. She elaborated that “invariably things leak out,” citing the meeting that led to Francis’ papacy over a decade ago.

The conclave is livestreamed daily on YouTube on the Vatican’s official account.