Some people respond to the unwanted attentions of a gull eyeing up a bag of chips or a Cornish pasty by frantically flapping their hands at the hungry bird while others beat a rapid retreat into the nearest seaside shelter. But researchers have found that a no-nonsense yell – even a relatively quiet one – may be the best way to get rid of a pesky herring gull.
Animal behaviourists from the University of Exeter tried to establish the most effective method of countering a feathery threat by placing a portion of chips in a place where gulls were bound to find them.
Once a gull approached, they played three recordings. First, a male voice shouting: “No, stay away, that’s my food, that’s my pasty!” Then, the same voice speaking the same words was played, followed by the “neutral” birdsong of a robin.
Study finds shouting is best way to get rid of pesky seagulls – video
They tested 61 gulls across nine seaside towns in Cornwall and found nearly half of the birds exposed to the shouting voice flapped away within a minute.
Only 15% of the gulls exposed to the speaking male voice flew off, though the rest walked away from the food, still apparently sensing danger. In contrast, 70% of gulls exposed to the robin song stayed put.
The volume of the “shouting” and “speaking” voices was the same, meaning the gulls seemed to be responding to the acoustic properties of the message rather than the loudness.
It is thought the study is the first to test whether wild, non-captive animals perceive differences in the properties of human voices uttering the same sentences at the same volume.
“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 Exeter’s Penryn campus in Cornwall.
“But the difference was that the gulls were more likely to fly away at the shouting and more likely to walk away at the speaking. 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.
“Normally when someone is shouting, it’s scary because it’s a loud noise, but in this case all the noises were the same volume and it was just the way the words were being said that was different.
“It seems that gulls pay attention to the way we say things, which we don’t think has been seen before in any wild species, only in those domesticated species that have been bred around humans for generations, such as dogs, pigs and horses.”
Boogert said the study showed it was not necessary to harm the birds to keep them away. “They are a species of conservation concern, and this experiment shows there are peaceful ways to deter them that don’t involve physical contact.”
A future study may look at whether a woman’s voice has the same effect.
The researchers had expected that gulls would be more likely to target the chips in more heavily populated towns, such as Penzance. In fact, gulls living in or near smaller, very touristy spots such as St Ives were keener, possibly because they are more used to foraging for human meals.
