The term was coined at ad agencies to describe an art director that avoids involvement in a projects until it becomes a perceived problem at the production phase. Usually a result of forgetting the project was in the works. The art director will make a scene with their production team, order revisions (usually very minor taste fairy changes) and vanish as quickly as they appeared.
This type of art director is sometimes called a "seagull" for short.
Production person 1: "Was that the art director} making all that noise?"
Production person 2: "Yeah, he was being a seagull art director. He swooped in, made a bunch of noise, shit all over everything and flew away."
Production person 1: "Are you going to do what he wants?"
Production person 2: "Nope."