PREVIEW

Shouting at seagulls could be the key to keeping them from snatching your food, according to new research.

Researchers from the University of Exeter set up an experiment in which they placed a closed Tupperware box filled with chips on the ground to tempt herring gulls. As the gulls approached, the team played either a recording of a man shouting "No, stay away, that's my food", the same voice speaking the words calmly, or a neutral birdsong from a robin.

The experiment, which involved testing 61 gulls across nine seaside towns in Cornwall, found that nearly half of the gulls exposed to the shouting voice flew away within just one minute. In contrast, only 15% of those exposed to the speaking voice flew away, with the rest simply walking off, still sensing danger. Meanwhile, a massive 70% of the gulls exposed to the robin song stayed close to the food for the entire experiment.

Dr Neeltje Boogert, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Exeter’s Penryn Campus, explained: "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. 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."

The researchers used recordings made by five male volunteers, each of whom recorded themselves saying the same phrase both calmly and in a shouting voice. Both versions were adjusted to the same volume, leading the team to suggest that gulls can distinguish between the acoustic properties of human voices.

Dr Boogert added: "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. So 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."

The findings aim to show that physical violence is not necessary to deter gulls, and the researchers opted for male voices in their experiment as most crimes against wildlife tend to be committed by men.

Dr Boogert concluded: "Most gulls aren’t bold enough to steal food from a person, I think they’ve become quite vilified."