The feeding behaviour of gulls is often surprising and sometimes a little strange, including a propensity to sweep down and steal food from the hands of unsuspecting people.
University of Salford academic Dr Alice Risely has been looking into the food habits of guzzling gulls as part of a worldwide survey into their dietary habits. As part of her research she is looking for photos and contributions from around the world, drawing on the contribution from citizen scientists.
Known for its seabird population, the UK has seen a significant decline in many of these species due to climate change, overfishing, and avian influenza.
Hence, as well as diet, Risely is hoping to uncover the reasons behind recent population changes of many gull species. For this reason, Risely is asking for photos of gulls eating various foods for the project simply titled ‘Gulls Eating Stuff’.
For this, Risely is requesting people from all over the world to upload their photos of gulls eating anything. The aim is to provide scientists with more information on what food resources and habitats are particularly important for gulls, allowing for a more accurate understanding of their ecology that could help facilitate coexistence between gulls and people.
Risely’s call to action requests for people to register with CitSci.org to get involved with the project, which can help us reframe what we think we know about gulls.
She said: “We want to know all the weird and wonderful things gulls eat in order start collecting some data on gull diet.”
Risely adds: “Our goal is to get people noticing gulls whilst also contributing to our understanding of gull diet and behaviour. We want to capture the huge diversity of gull diets and understand spatial and temporal trends in what they are eating. They are a truly fascinating group of species.”
From the UK perspective, Risley continues: “There are six species of gull residing in the UK, with two – the Herring gull and Lesser black-backed gull – being large gulls that are becoming more urban and prone to nesting and foraging in towns and cities. These two species look quite similar, but the Herring gull has a light grey back and pink legs, and the Lesser black-backed gull has a darker grey back and yellow legs.”
As to what she and her fellow researchers want to achieve, Risley indicates: “By studying gulls’ diet, we can learn more about their behaviour, their role in ecosystems and the pressures they face in a changing world. Declining gull populations in natural coastal areas may be partly due to a reduction of food in these habitats, so identifying prey items may help us better protect gull breeding colonies in natural coastal regions that have traditionally been a stronghold for these species in the UK.”
Already hundreds of photos of gulls eating stuff have been sent in including urban diets of leftover curry, pilfered profiteroles, ice cream, and even human vomit. There are also photos of gulls hunting and eating starfish, crabs, wild birds, pigeons, rats, and even one that had caught a mole.
