Overview
- Field tests using takeaway boxes marked with pairs of eyes made herring gulls approach more slowly and peck less often than plain boxes.
- In repeated trials with 30 gulls, roughly half never pecked at eye-marked boxes, showing the deterrent works inconsistently across individuals.
- Researchers at the University of Exeter plan to partner with food vendors to assess the tactic in busy, real-world settings.
- A separate Exeter experiment with 61 gulls in nine Cornwall towns found recorded shouting most reliably made birds fly away compared with neutral birdsong or speaking.
- The packaging idea builds on prior findings that direct gaze slows gull approaches and aligns with broader evidence that eyespots can deter predators.