A study from the University of Exeter, published in the journal Ecology and Evolution, shows that painting a pair of eyes on food packaging can be a solution to keeping seagulls away. According to research, robberies decrease by up to 50%.
A carried out in several cities in Devon and Cornwall, in the United Kingdom, consisted of taking two boxes – one with painted eyes and the other without drawings – to riverside areas and waiting for the birds to arrive.
The seagulls, faced with the two packages, took longer to approach the box with painted eyes and were less likely to move forward.
“Approximately half of the birds tested in multiple trials consistently avoided the eye boxes and never approached them, indicating a lack of short-term habituation,” say researchers from the University of Exeter.
While the packaging without eyes was pecked 78% of the time in which she was placed before the birds, the container with eyes was hit in only 22% of interactions.
“The seagulls also took significantly longer to peck the box with their eyes (…) The box with the eyes was pecked, on average, 19 seconds slower,” says the study.
However, the study’s conclusions do not apply to all gulls. “The effect of the eyes appeared to vary between birds, the study authors noted.
“The results suggest a strong initial aversion to eye stimulation in some gulls, followed by partial habituation on subsequent trials for those that pecked/interacted with the box.”
