Don't want your food to become bird food? Research suggests there's a simple way to stop gulls from stealing your snack: tell them not to! — Photo: Bernd Wüstneck/dpa
As big as buzzards and bold as brass, seagulls swollen on diet of scraps from bins in coastal towns and cities can be persistent pests, particularly for anyone trying to enjoy a lunchtime sandwich or a picnic.
But there is probably a straightforward-enough solution, even if it sounds like winging it at first: just shout at the gulls if they get too close - if your lungs and self-consciousness are up for it.
A team of wildlife researchers from the University of Exeter, a city on Britain’s south-west coast, have found that a loud male voice for the most part persuades the gulls against trying to snatch a snack.
The team played a recording of a man shouting "No, stay away, that’s my food" as gulls approached a box of chips or French fries: more than half the gulls flew away within a minute.
A speaking voice prompted herring gulls to mostly walk away rather than fly, but depart they did all the same, while a recording of a robin chirping was found to have scant impact on the gulls' inclination to stay or go.
While doing so may elicit some funny looks from bystanders, shouting at seagulls is probably the best way to make sure that lunchtime sandwich or picnic piece of cake does not end up as elusive as the sea breeze.
"We found that urban gulls were more vigilant and pecked less at the food container when we played them a male voice, whether it was speaking or shouting," said Neeltje Boogert of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the university.
"So when trying to scare off a gull that’s trying to steal your food, talking might stop them in their tracks but shouting is more effective at making them fly away," said Boogert, whose team's research was published in November by Biology Letters, a Royal Society journal. – By Simon Roughneen/dpa
