Why seagulls don’t want your chips as much as you might think

By Neeltje Boogert, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow, University of Exeter

Have you been to the beach this summer? I took my daughter there the other day and got her a pasty for lunch. She was happily munching it while staring out to sea, back turned to the café where we bought the pasty. Suddenly, there was a flapping of wings behind us and something swooping down. Next thing I knew the pasty was gone, and my daughter was in tears. A seagull had struck and flown off with a free lunch, again.

I should have known to keep my eye on the herring gulls (the most common gull species in British seaside towns) perching on the café roof looking for an easy meal – my…

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