Want to Stop Gulls From Stealing Your Food? Stare Them Down, Study Says

Staring down gulls does not necessarily change gulls’ minds. When coming to fish off the dock they all treat me like a long-lost cousin. I inform them the bait is mine and so are any fish I catch on the line. They just stare at me and look around nervously. As soon as I bait a hook they are all over me until another fisherman pulls in a fish. Then they leave and go to him. Looking them eye doesn’t deter them - they have a mission. I recall seeing a report about a gull that would enter a convenience store and grab a bag of chips and exit. People gave donations to the store to cover the bird’s chips. No eye contact necessary.

Loved reading this article and thoroughly enjoyed reading the comments describing entertaining interactions with gulls. Birds are so very clever and crafty! Thanks NYT for a reminder that we’re not the only smart creatures on this planet.

John Updike’s poem “Seagulls” seems apropos here. The Times would probably object to my posting it in full, so I’ll provide the first few lines and then a link to the whole thing: A gull, up close, looks surprisingly stuffed. His fluffy chest seems filled with an inexpensive taxidermist's material rather lumpily inserted. The legs, unbent, are childish crayon strokes-- too simple to be workable. And even the feather-markings, whose intricate symmetry is the usual glory of birds, are in the gull slovenly, as if God makes them too many to make them very well. https://www.facebook.com/JohnUpdikeAuthor/posts/seagulls-by-john-updikea-gull-up-closelooks-surprisingly-stuffedhis-fluffy-chest/802300576571423/

So .. you're saying if the gull thinks you're looking at it, it will be more cautious. Funny, every animal I've ever dealt with acts exactly the same way.

Seagull assessment of human is you can take their lunch so now I'm wondering what cats are thinking when they look at me.

These researchers haven’t dealt with American gull. I have had gulls snatching food I was holding, or on a plate right in front of me.

If you spend a little time watching gulls, it’s a battleground of food. One gull snags some food and all the others try to steal it. Humans should not feel picked on: gulls are thieves by nature.

Looks like a slow day for the guys at the Europe desk. You forgot to mention the best way to avoid gulls, don't bring any food.

Eat indoors with the windows closed.

Growing up in a coastal area for a good part of my life, I am used to gull shenanigans. They used to invade our high school during lunch time like clockwork. I've tried staring them down, waving my arms, shouting. Really, nothing works if you have food on or near you. Clever little buggers, but I do love them.

Hire a bunch of staring boxers to keep open air food stalls clear from seagulls.

Here is how Ocean City NJ is dealing with the seagull problem: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2019/08/06/beach-town-brought-hawks-falcons-owls-scare-away-pesky-seagulls/

While watering by hose one day I was attacked by a hummingbird, intent on getting to the water supply. He/she aimed for my eyes, and it worked! I dropped the hose and the bird had all the water for a bit. I think some species know that humans are sensitive to threats to their eyes.

Gulls aren't the only avian quick-grab artists. My late partner and I once had six laying hens, which over the years succumbed to various fates until only one remained. We allowed Dolly Parton, as we named her, to range free and to roost where she chose. One day my partner was sitting on a garden bench, about to eat a ham sandwich, when Dolly casually strolled up, made a hop, grabbed the sandwich, and ran off with it before either of us could react. She ate it, too. Dolly met her own ironically similar end weeks later when a bald eagle swooped down on her and grabbed her unawares. She was too heavy for the eagle to carry more than a few yards, but she died that night from her wounds. RIP, DP.

My brother lives in a high rise on the west coast, where gulls are notorious for snatching food off balconies. One day he saw a gull fly by his window carrying a plastic bag containing a sandwich and a banana. Some unlucky construction worker was too busy to stare down the birds.

The opera bar at the Sydney opera house has a local gull population that has pretty much perfected the smash and grab. When I lived there my girlfriend and I were enjoying an adult beverage and some fries when a gull came in from behind briefly touched down on her head grabbed the fry out of her hand and took off in on continuous motion. I was super impressed with this gulls guts and flying skills. My girlfriend not so much. As a hang glider pilot I'm jealous of their flying skills. I was just down there on a Business trip and had to take my coworker on the obligatory trip to the opera house, as he wandered around the opera house I went to the bar and watched the gulls try to steal food.

Reminds me of being "mugged' by a seagull in Amagansett about 6 years ago. Was trying to build a fire with charcoal near the beach and I turned around and a seagull was pecking at my raw steak. When I went to scare him away it actually tried to take the entire steak and fortunately, he failed! He simply couldn't support the weight. At least the seagull wasn't going to enjoy it either.

So it's illegal "to intentionally or, in Scotland and Northern Ireland, recklessly injure or kill any gull..." Which means that it's legal to recklessly injure a gull in England as long as the injury wasn't intentional. All these myriad territorial laws! Isn't there some way to codify regulations across Britain's borders... Nay, even across *national* borders... so that, say, laws are consistent across even all of *Europe*? Which would open unfettered trade across the continent? Which would simplify and standardize conduct across all of Europe, bringing a new age of economic efficiency to those whose business is to molest gulls? Which would bring the dawn of a new day, an era of... community... of Europeans... Oh, who cares about stupid gulls? Never mind.

The correct response to food theft by gulls is to let them have it; that way you have a story to dine out on for years-- much better than that sad bacon sandwich you were working on.

Where would we all be without this paper to provide us with this desperately needed advice?

Stare at the gulls? So essentially if this works, the excellent film "The Birds" would have never been made. Too bad we can't get Alfred Hitchcock's thoughts on this.

As a resident of Fort Lauderdale and avid beach visitor I’ll never forget one day where I had one perfect bite left of an amazing homemade BLT...when out-from nowhere a seagull grabs it out of my hand...gives a laugh...and rises off into the sunshine...also savoring my meal...

I was eating a sub on a sea wall in southern CA a few years ago and had the exact same thing happen. A gull dove from behind, I felt its wing on my shoulder, and grabbed the sub out of my hand, took it to the ground and a whole flock appeared from nowhere to feed on what was left of it. I agree they don't like face to face, they'll wait around and walk back and forth but usually give up if you don't throw food at them which is what they are there for.

The opening paragraph to the article had me laughing out loud! Just last week at the beach, a pair of sea gulls tried to steal my sandals in a plastic bag probably thinking it was food. They dragged some few feet from where it was while I was by the water and eventually abandoned it upon further inspection I suppose.

A recent Rick Steves' show entitled "Scotland's Islands" shows Rick enjoying lunch dockside and losing some fish and chips to a swooping gull. I suspect they tempted the gull to get a good video shot of the theft, as there's a second theft pictured in the blooper/outtakes at the end of the show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsR2Xy-HGPk

Haha! Sure, you stare that seagull down ... while the other seagulls slip in on the side and take your lunch. Great advice dude. Get out there once in a while and interact with seagulls, instead of reading about it.

Or maybe don't walk down the street, eating something.

I love seagulls. We have a gull family that often sit on our shed (okay, they scavenge from us). And yes, with your back turned they will get right up close - but the minute you look at them you see them hesitate then step away. I also love the way they cock their head to make eye contact, and turn it side to side to appraise you with both of its eyes. They can be a menace - losing an ice cream or open fish and chips to a fast stealth swoop is almost a rite-of-passage. Ours likes wrecking the garden if he can’t find food, he pulls plants up etc. They are, like all birds, fascinating creatures. Birds have an otherworldly quality - you sense you’re in the presence of a higher being, one who can soar over us all where no-one can chase him.

Having lived on an island in Maine with 1500 breeding pairs of herring and black-back gulls, I've had lots of interactions with these crafty birds. As the researchers in this article pointed out, they're very aware of eyes. Stare unblinking at a line of gulls standing quietly along a roof ridge of a house...they'll start fidgeting, look indignant, and then walk along the ridge away from you. Walk with food in your hand, they'll always try to fly up from behind to steal a meal. Walking with an arm raised over your head, or holding a stick up in the air will prevent thievery, but chances are the gulls will win eventually .... they're amazingly accurate when they poop on you as they fly overhead!

I have a small beach cottage. The gulls sit on my roof and see if I’m stupid enough to leave my food out before I grill it. The gulls are also happy to grab my fishing bate if I don’t hide it while fishing. They’re quite clever. But I’m on to them.

How do you stare down a gull while it's about to attack you from behind?

I had to laugh. I can imagine making eye contact with one or even two gulls. But usually the gulls are much more numerous than that and stealthily snatch the food away faster than you can avoid being just a slow human. But thanks for the article, it brought back many memories of fun times at many different seashores, harbors, lakes, beaches.

This interesting - I've seen crows stare down sea gulls and cats and dogs. I've unnerved sea gulls by making eye contact. I was just watching them, but it appears I creeped them out and they moved away.