Some people responded to the unwanted attention of a gulling looking at a bag of chips or a cornish pasty by running their hands while others hit a hard retreat to the nearest seaside. But researchers have found that a no-nonsense yell — even a quiet one — can be the best way to get a pesky herring gull off.
Animal characteristics from University of Exeter Tried to establish the most effective method of counting a feather threat by placing a part of the chips in a place where the gulls should find them.
Once a gull approached, they played three recordings. First, a male voice shouting: “No, stay, that’s my food, that’s it I Pasty! ” Afterwards, the same voice saying the same words is played, followed by the “neutral” birdsong of a robin.
They tested 61 gulls in nine seaside towns in Cornwall and found that almost half of the birds that were placed with the cry screamed within a minute.
Only 15% of the gulls that were exposed to the male voice flew away, although some walked away from the food, apparently thinking of the danger. In contrast, 70% of the gulls placed in the Robin song remained placed.
The number of “screaming” and “speaking” sounds was similar, meaning that the gulls seemed to respond to the charged properties of the message rather than the loudness.
It is thought that 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 cautious and estimated less food content when we played a male voice, whether speaking or shouting,” said Neeltje boogerton Center for ecology and conservation at the exeter campus of Penerter in Cornwall.
“But the difference is that gulls are more likely to fly with a scream and tend to walk away talking.
“Usually when someone screams, it’s scary because it’s a loud noise, but in this case all the noises are the same amount of noise.
“It seems that the gulls pay attention to the way of saying things, which we do not think we have seen before in any kind of wild people filled with people for generations, like dogs that are generations of generations of generations, like dogs, like dogs that live with people, like places where people live for generations, like dogs, like dogs, like dogs, pig, pig.”
Boogerger said the study shows it’s not necessary to harm the birds to keep them away. “It’s a kind of precautionary concern, and this experiment shows there are peaceful ways to prevent them that don’t involve physical contact.”
A future study could look at whether a woman’s voice has the same effect.
The researchers expect that the gulls are more likely to target chips in densely populated cities, such as drinking. In fact, the gulls that live in or near small, very small places like Ive are Keier, probably because they are more used to foraging for human food.