Brighton: Seagulls steal people's food because they are smart

Have you ever wondered why gulls are so keen to steal the sandwich, portion of chips or ice cream from your hand on Brighton seafront?

A new study from Sussex University has revealed that herring gulls observe humans and mimic their food choices which could be one reason for their success in urban areas.

The research showed that gulls have the behavioural flexibility to take cues of what food to eat from humans.

A seagull on Brighton seafront (Image: Sussex University)

“Gulls didn’t evolve to like chips”, said Paul Graham, professor of neuroethology at the University of Sussex.

“Over time they have had to learn to engage with humans in order to source food. It is therefore a sign of intelligence.  

“While we know that animals learn from each other, we rarely see animals learning from a totally different species when it comes to food preferences. 

“This interaction with humans is relatively modern, and what we can see is that gulls have adapted to thrive in urban environments by mimicking human food choices. 

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“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.” 

The researchers studied how gulls in Brighton can learn and apply the knowledge of what humans are interested in, which is known as ‘stimulus enhancement’. 

Using colour to test the stimulus enhancement theory, the researchers positioned one blue crisp packet and one green crisp packet in the immediate vicinity of both individual and groups of herring gulls along Brighton’s seafront.

'That was a nice lunch'

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 to attempt to find food. 

While many animals learn from each other in terms of foraging and what food to eat, 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.  

The research was conducted by Sussex University Masters’ students Franziska Feist and Kiera Smith.