Why seagulls steal your food at the beach revealed

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The study suggests it is likely that seagulls steal our food because they are influenced by human behaviour, researchers said. This is a very exciting notion to me.” Madeleine Goumas from the University of Exeter said research like this can minimise the conflict between seagulls and humans, but warned that eating human food may not be beneficial to seagulls. “However, the kind of processed food humans eat is a relatively new addition to wild animals’ diets and it is unclear whether it is actually beneficial for them, which is a concern when the species is declining.” A study conducted by the University of Bristol in 2020 revealed that seagulls’ foraging patterns closely matched the timing of school breaks and the opening and closing times of the waste centre. In 2019, scientists from the University of Exeter found that seagulls are less likely to steal food when they know they are being watched.