Polishing Off the Chips -Close-up Detail of a Hungry Sea Gull on a Café Table Stealing Food from an Unattended Plate. Teignmouth Devon, England.


Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) were historically only found on or near coastlines where their diet consisted of fish, crustaceans and by scavenging on animal carcases. They are large gulls and build their nests on cliff ledges and rocky outcrops. They are no longer seen in such large numbers on our coasts but have moved inland to rural areas where they can scavenge on our leftover food more easily. In some areas, they have become a nuisance and measures have been taken by residents to prevent these gulls from nesting on their property. Some gulls have been identified as having less fear of humans and will steal chips or pasties directly out of the hands of people consuming them. Their nuisance value has led to some West Country Councils bringing in bye laws to try to deter activities that encourage feeding the gulls.


Size: 6000px × 4000px
Location: Teignmouth Devon, England.
Photo credit: © John Insull / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: adaptation, advantage, aggressive, alert, argentatus, aware, , behaviour, bird, british, café, chair, chance, close, colour, colourful, common, crafty, culture, cute, detail, ecology, empty, england, environment, european, feather, feed, flight, fly, food, gull, gulls, habitat, herring, larus, legislation, lifestyle, nature, opportunist, opportunity, plate, scavenge, scavenger, society, south, steal, study, table, texture, thief, watching, west, westcountry, wild