Technically, seagulls are not a bird of prey. But try telling that to the snacking tourists on my nearest beach; they start scanning the skies for chip predators, ducking for cover like voles facing the claws of a kestrel. <\/p>\n
Some research has found<\/a> that no matter what lifestyle they lead, seagulls seem programmed to dive-bomb at boxes of fish and chips.<\/p>\n But a new study might have found a surprising answer: painting eyes on chop boxes. <\/p>\n Why does that help?<\/strong><\/p>\n According to a paper published in Ecology and Evolution<\/a>, \u201cgulls were slower to approach and less likely to peck a takeaway food box with eye-like stimuli compared to a box without eyes\u201d. <\/p>\n The researchers measured how often herring gulls approached boxes with eyes painted on them with their approach to plain boxes. They were slower to approach the more watchful-seeming containers and pecked them less often.<\/p>\n Overall, the step reduced thefts by as much as 50%. And that reduction remained even after the seagulls had been exposed to takeaway eye boxes multiple times. <\/p>\n Lots of animals are put off by the presence of eye-like markings, the study added.<\/p>\n Previously, the researchers wrote<\/a>, a similar approach has proven successful in keeping predators from assaulting cattle, preventing birds from gathering in airports, and ensuring seabirds stop foraging near fishing nets.<\/p>\n However, the paper cautioned<\/a> that responses to the eyes were \u201chighly individual\u201d; not all species of gull may react the same way, and even among herring gulls, about half didn\u2019t seem to care about the change at all.<\/p>\n What else could help? <\/strong><\/p>\n