Have you been to the beach this summer? I took my daughter there the other day and got her a pasty for lunch. She was happily munching it while staring out to sea, back turned to the café where we bought the pasty. Suddenly, there was a flapping of wings behind us and something swooping down. Next thing I knew the pasty was gone, and my daughter was in tears. A seagull had struck and flown off with a free lunch, again.
I should have known to keep my eye on the herring gulls (the most common gull species in British seaside towns) perching on the café roof looking for an easy meal – my students and I published a study in 2019 showing that gazing at gulls deters them from stealing your food.
However, not all gulls you see are human-food thieves and my team’s recent research showed that gulls would much rather have fish than human-made food.
