British scientists have found out how to protect their food from brazen seagulls on the coast: instead of a calm conversation, it is enough to shout loudly – this makes the birds quickly fly away. Sky News reports this, writes UNN.
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Scientists believe they have found a way to solve an age-old problem for those living or vacationing in British coastal towns — how to protect food from seagulls. The answer, according to experts from the University of Exeter, is simple: shout.
They came to this conclusion by testing 61 seagulls in nine coastal towns in Cornwall, exploring ways to deter birds from a box of fries on the ground. To do this, they played a recording of a male voice shouting: "No, don't come near, this is my food."
The same voice was also played speaking these words calmly, and a neutral bird chirping of a nightingale. All three recordings sounded at the same volume.
The experiment showed that half of the seagulls exposed to the shouting flew away within a minute. Only 15% of those who heard calm speech flew away; the rest left the food, sensing danger. Conversely, 70% of the seagulls who listened to the nightingale's song remained near the food throughout the experiment.
Dr. Neeltje Boogert from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus noted: "Gulls were more likely to fly away at a shout and more likely to move away when they simply heard conversation. So, if you're trying to deter a gull that's trying to steal your food, talking might stop it, but shouting is more effective."
For the experiment, five male volunteers recorded the same phrase in a calm voice and then with a shout, with the volume being the same, suggesting that seagulls distinguish the acoustic features of the human voice.
Dr. Boogert added: "Usually, when someone shouts, it's scary because of the loud sound, but here all the sounds were of the same volume, and the only difference was how the words were spoken. It seems that seagulls pay attention to how we speak, and this has not been observed before in any wild species, only in domestic animals raised alongside humans for generations, such as dogs, pigs, and horses."
The experiment showed that physical violence is not necessary to deter seagulls.