Animals Does the bread taste good? Seagull chicks prefer fish

It doesn't matter what food small children are served: Many of them prefer to eat pasta. This is similar for herring gull chicks. Their favorite has fins.

Herring gulls often rummage through garbage cans or snatch ice cream from the hands of unsuspecting tourists. You might think they like human food. A study in the specialist journal "PeerJ" has now come to the conclusion that at least young gulls clearly prefer fish - even if they have grown up with human food.

For the study, the research team from the University of Exeter in the UK raised a total of 27 herring gull chicks (Larus argentatus). The chicks were orphans that could not be reunited with their parents. Some were mainly fed a "city diet" of bread and cat food, while the others were mainly fed a "sea diet" of fish and mussels.

On days 5, 10, 15 and 35, all the chicks had a choice: they could choose from which of four bowls they picked their food. Most of the little seagulls chose fish. Mussels and cat food were touched from time to time. Bread, on the other hand, was only taken by the chicks when all the other bowls were empty.

Gull parents often bring fish to the nest

According to the study, this is consistent with observations in nature. Herring gull parents offer their chicks a diet containing more fish than the adult gulls eat while they are not yet parents. The research team points out that bread, for example, contains less protein and other important nutrients than fish.

"Our results suggest that even if these chicks are raised on an 'urban diet' that is only found near humans, they are unlikely to forage for urban food as adults," explained first author Emma Inzani. "Human food is often reliably available and easy to get - but when fish is available, they clearly prefer it."

Why fly far when there are trash cans?

Inzani points out that fish stocks around the UK are declining, whereas food waste is often easily accessible in human settlements. It therefore makes little sense for herring gulls to spend a lot of energy foraging in the sea. More than three quarters of herring gulls in the UK now breed in urban areas.

"Animals can live in urban areas and use them for human food waste," added co-author Neeltje Boogert. "However, this does not necessarily mean that they are doing well or that they prefer this food." Rather, they were simply making the best of a bad situation.

Chicks of different sizes

The study also found that the chicks raised on an "urban diet" did not grow quite as fast on average. Incidentally, the 27 chicks were released into the wild after they had fledged.

The scientific team is in favor of further research into the effects of food on the lives of the chicks. It is possible that the health and breeding behavior of the adult birds also depends on the food they were given as chicks.