How do seagulls know that potato chips and ice cream are delicious?

Sitting on the dock on a sunny afternoon, enjoying an ice cream while feeling the sea breeze - this may be the perfect way to start a vacation, but it can also be a standard start to a "bird horror story."

Enjoying food at the beach, seagulls suddenly swooped down from the sky to rob people . This has happened too many times around the world. The wonderful snapshots of seagulls stealing ice cream alone are enough to make a big collection.

Seagulls eating ice cream｜Instagram / @dalyntara / Dalyntara Tara Dalyntara, Triangle News, Adam Hulse

Are seagulls all terrible robbers who rob anyone they see? Why are they so obsessed with ice cream and chips?

You need both wisdom and courage to get the French fries

The "seagull" we usually refer to is not a single species , but a general term for many types of gulls. Among them, the Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) and the Lesser Black-backed Gull (L. fuscus) are often seen in the news of "seagulls stealing food".

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) | Kulac/Wikipedia

These gulls are opportunists who adapt to changing circumstances and will eat anything they can get their hands on. These birds have a kleptoparasitic habit, often stealing food from their own species and other birds. With a penchant for eating everything and stealing, it’s no surprise that when these gulls enter cities, they’ll target human food.

The shocking photos of seagulls "stealing food from humans" have been deeply rooted in people's minds, but in fact not all seagulls will steal so directly. It takes special skills and courage to approach humans and explore artificial food. In behavioral experiments, only about 1/4 of seagulls can do this [1]. It can be said that "getting French fries at the pier" is a symbol of both wisdom and courage in the seagull world.

Seagulls that dare to steal food directly from humans are actually a minority | loki11/Wikipedia

Favorite human style

As natural habitats and food decrease, more and more seagulls enter cities and live with humans. They look for food from restaurants and garbage dumps, build nests on buildings where they are less disturbed by predators, and seek guarantees for survival and reproduction.

Seagulls are long-lived, large-brained, and quick learners , and by observing how humans behave, they quickly learned how to fill their stomachs in cities.

Human processed food all looks strange, so how can we judge which ones are edible and which ones are delicious? The secret of seagulls is to keep an eye on the food that humans are eating and then choose the same one .

Food in human hands is the most delicious | Tuchong Creative

In a recent study, scientists verified the preference of herring gulls for "the same kind as humans." They found that if a bag of potato chips was placed directly on the ground, only about 19% of the gulls would be attracted; but if a person was placed nearby and eating potato chips, the proportion of seagulls attracted would increase to 48%. Moreover, when given two different packages of potato chips, seagulls would choose the one that the human next to them was eating 95% of the time [1].

In addition to observation, seagulls are also very good at memorizing the time patterns of food. They always appear on time when schools have lunch breaks or when garbage stations are open, waiting to scoop up food waste brought in by humans[2].

What to do if you encounter a seagull?

How can you peacefully drive away seagulls that steal your food? Scientists suggest: Try staring at them .

A 2019 study found that seagulls are afraid of human gazes. The experimenters placed a bag of French fries on the beach and then recorded the seagulls' reactions on video while they stared at them or turned their heads to the side to pretend to look at the scenery when they approached.

The results showed that the seagulls that were being watched by humans were significantly more cautious, taking an average of 21 seconds longer to approach the food. Some seagulls even gave up approaching when being watched by humans[3].

Researcher's eye contact with a herring gull | University of Exeter

If you must eat where seagulls are present, it is best to find a seat under a parasol with your back to the wall - this will prevent seagulls from suddenly attacking from out of sight .

It is also important to dispose of food waste properly, preferably in gull-proof bins, and never feed seagulls .

Don't feed seagulls (and other wildlife, of course) | 9gag

Noisy seagulls may be annoying, but we shouldn't think of them as pests. Even in the UK, where urban seagulls are a particular problem, the overall population of these birds continues to decline. We often forget that their survival is always under threat because they appear in the news for fun, stealing people's food.

Ultimately, seagulls are just trying to survive in a world that is slowly getting worse. Only by creating a more suitable habitat for them in the wild can the conflict between humans and seagulls be truly resolved.

References

[1]https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0035

[2] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ibi.12892

[3] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0405

Author: Window Knocking Rain

This article comes from GuokrNature (ID: GuokrNature)

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