Seagulls Can Tell If You’re Really Mad (And They React Differently)

Anyone who has eaten near the beach has probably had a seagull swoop in to claim their lunch at some point. Now, scientists at the University of Exeter have figured out exactly how to keep those feathered bandits at bay, and the answer might surprise people who thought volume was the only thing that mattered.

Researchers tested 61 wild herring gulls across nine coastal towns in Cornwall, England, playing recordings of men shouting, men speaking, and a robin’s song at the exact same volume. The gulls treated both shouting and speaking as threats compared to the harmless robin chirps. There was, however, a twist. When gulls decided to leave, they flew away from shouting but merely walked away from speaking.

How Scientists Tested Seagull Responses to Human Voices

Setting up the experiment required some creativity. Scientists placed a speaker inside a plastic shopping bag to avoid spooking the birds, then set out a clear plastic box filled with chips 150 centimeters away. Once a gull approached, researchers started one of three randomly selected 30-second audio tracks while filming the bird’s reaction from eight meters away.

The vocal recordings came from five British men who recorded themselves saying the same phrase twice: once shouting and once speaking normally. “No! Stay away! That’s my food, that’s my pasty!” Each recording was edited to reach 60 decibels peak amplitude at 150 centimeters, a level chosen to reflect what gulls would experience under natural conditions. This ensured that differences in the gulls’ responses reflected the acoustic properties of the voices rather than loudness alone. Five different robin songs served as the control, representing a familiar and non-threatening sound.

The Surprising Difference Between Flying and Walking Away

When the audio started playing, gulls exposed to human voices flinched at the sudden sound, spent longer scanning their surroundings for danger, pecked at the food or speaker fewer times, and left the area much sooner than those listening to robin song.

But the real difference appeared in how the gulls chose to exit. When researchers analyzed the 47 gulls that left before the one-minute trial ended, a clear pattern emerged: gulls that heard shouting were five times more likely to fly away compared to those that heard robin song, while gulls that heard speaking were seven times more likely to walk away compared to the robin baseline.

Flying away from danger represents a more urgent escape response than walking. Birds typically reserve flight for serious threats, as flying requires more energy and leaves them vulnerable while airborne. The fact that gulls flew from shouting but walked from speaking suggests they perceived shouting as a more immediate danger, even though both sounds came through the speaker at identical volumes.

Why Urban Seagulls Are Getting Bolder

European herring gulls have rapidly colonized British urban areas over the past century. Today, most of the UK’s herring gull population nests in towns and cities rather than coastal cliffs, creating friction between humans and birds. Complaints about noise, mess, and aggressive food-seeking behavior have become common in seaside communities.

Previous research has shown that urban gulls can read human behavioral cues, like where someone is looking, and use that information to decide when to steal food. They’re less likely to approach food when a person maintains eye contact with them. Published in Biology Letters, the findings add another layer to this. Speaking at a normal volume appears sufficient to interrupt a bird’s meal, but shouting proves more effective at making the gull leave entirely.

The research team conducted all trials during late February and early March 2025, outside the breeding season. They tested birds across 52 different locations, carefully tracking previously tested gulls to avoid counting the same bird twice.

Seagulls Just Make You Want To Shout

Shouting and speaking differ in acoustic features beyond volume. In this study, the three playback types also differed in fundamental frequency, even when normalized to the same decibel level. These differences remain detectable to animals with acute hearing.

Birds possess sophisticated auditory systems that can detect subtle variations in sound. Many bird species use vocal cues to assess threats and distinguish between predators and non-predators. That urban gulls have learned to interpret human vocal properties makes sense given their increasing reliance on human food sources and frequent interactions with people.

Interestingly, St. Ives and Hayle, two towns with higher tourism levels, yielded more successful trials than larger towns like Penzance and St. Austell. The researchers suspect that tourist-heavy areas provide more foraging opportunities from street vendors and outdoor dining, potentially making gulls in those locations bolder and more willing to approach human food.

For anyone trying to protect their beachside lunch, the research offers a simple takeaway. Either talking or shouting at a pesky gull will make it less likely to continue foraging, but shouting is more effective at making the bird leave entirely.

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