Overview
- University of Exeter researchers ran playback experiments at nine coastal sites in Cornwall and offered gulls portions of fish and chips.
- Across roughly 20 birds per condition, shouting led 10 of 21 gulls to fly away, versus 3 of 20 after calm speech, with more walking off than flying in the latter case.
- The robin song control had little effect, with most birds staying near the food despite the birdsong.
- Lead author Neeltje Boogert advises shouting to prompt flight if a gull targets your food, noting that talking may only cause the bird to back off on foot.
- The peer-reviewed results in Biology Letters provide a low-tech deterrent, though the small sample and open questions, such as effects of female voices, limit generalization.