Seagulls steal your ice cream and chips - because they’re clever!
By Jill Dando News
Seagulls are famous for stealing food from holiday makers on beaches - with their favourites seemingly ice creams and chips.
Now researchers at the University of Sussex have worked out why.
Their findings published in one of their university papers has found that the seagulls’ cheeky characteristic is a sign of intelligence. Crucially these birds can learn how to mimic the food choices of humans.
But recent research has shown that gulls have the behavioural flexibility to also take cues from humans.
Researchers at the University of Sussex studied how gulls in Brighton can learn and apply the knowledge of what humans are interested in, which is known as ‘stimulus enhancement’.
During their tests in Brighton, they positioned one blue crisp packet and one green crisp packet in the immediate vicinity of both individual and groups of herring gulls.
Nearby, a human experimenter ate from a blue or green crisp packet. The researchers found that the gulls would turn their heads to watch the experimenter and, in most cases, then pecked at the matching crisp packet in a bid to find food.
The research shows that gulls observe humans and the food options they select, and use that knowledge to determine their own food choices.
The researchers point out that this behaviour is a sign of intelligence.
Prof Paul Graham, Professor of Neuroethology at the University of Sussex said: “Gulls didn’t evolve to like chips. Over time they have had to learn to engage with humans in order to source food. It is therefore a sign of intelligence.
“But gulls may be less likely to steal our food if we focus on reducing litter. That’s because littering increases gulls’ ability to learn about how our different food options and how they taste.”
