Herring gulls respond to human gaze direction.

Madeleine Goumas,Laura A Kelley,Neeltje J Boogert,Isabella Burns

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2019.0405

Abstract

Human–wildlife conflict is one of the greatest threats to species populations worldwide. One species facing national declines in the UK is the herring gull (Larus argentatus), despite an increase in numbers in urban areas. Gulls in urban areas are often considered a nuisance owing to behaviours such as food-snatching. Whether urban gull feeding behaviour is influenced by human behavioural cues, such as gaze direction, remains unknown. We therefore measured the approach times of herring gulls to a food source placed in close proximity to an experimenter who either looked directly at the gull or looked away. We found that only 26% of targeted gulls would touch the food, suggesting that food-snatching is likely to be conducted by a minority of individuals. When gulls did touch the food, they took significantly longer to approach when the experimenter's gaze was directed towards them compared with directed away. However, inter-individual behaviour varied greatly, with some gulls approaching similarly quickly in both treatments, while others approached much more slowly when the experimenter was looking at them. These results indicate that reducing human–herring gull conflict may be possible through small changes in human behaviour, but will require consideration of behavioural differences between individual gulls.

Highlights

Interactions between humans and wildlife often have detrimental impacts on a wide variety of taxa, and human–wildlife conflict is a major cause of species declines and limited success of conservation efforts [1]
Despite their decreasing overall population size, increasing numbers of herring gulls are breeding in urban areas [5]; the traditional nesting sites of cliffs and islets have been exchanged for roofs, and marine prey is sometimes largely substituted with anthropogenic food [5]
Interactions between herring gulls and humans are increasingly leading to conflict and may have the potential to exacerbate population declines of this species

Summary

Introduction

Interactions between humans and wildlife often have detrimental impacts on a wide variety of taxa, and human–wildlife conflict is a major cause of species declines and limited success of conservation efforts [1]. Conflict between herring gulls (Larus argentatus) and humans is an ongoing source of debate and control measures. This species is on the UK’s Red list of Birds of Conservation Concern as the British population decreased by 60% between 1969 and 2015 [4] owing to rapid anthropogenic change [5]. Despite their decreasing overall population size, increasing numbers of herring gulls are breeding in urban areas [5]; the traditional nesting sites of cliffs and islets have been exchanged for roofs, and marine prey is sometimes largely substituted with anthropogenic food [5]

Methods

Results

Conclusion