Seagulls have worked out break times of schools so they can forage for food in playgrounds, new study finds

Seagulls have worked out when school break times are so they can forage for food in playgrounds, a new study has found.

Scientists from the University of Bristol tracked 12 of the clever birds with GPS backpacks and studied their behaviour.

They observed the gulls at a school, a waste centre and a public park, finding that they tend to swarm to these places when they are most likely to find food.

While it is known that birds like to peck the ground in the mornings when worms are more plentiful, seagulls have also adapted their internal clocks to match the behaviour of humans.

Researchers found that gulls fly to the best places to forage throughout the day, working out when deliveries usually get taken to the dump, and when children come out to play at school.

Those on the beach for a day out may think it is uncanny how the birds tend to appear to snatch a chip at lunchtime - and this is by design. The gulls also learned when most people go to public spaces and flocked there at those times.

Dr Anouk Spelt, lead author of the paper published in Ibis, the International Journal of Avian Science, explained: "On our first day at the school, the students were excited to tell us about the gulls visiting their school at lunch time. Indeed, our data showed that gulls were not only present in high numbers during lunchtime to feed on leftovers, but also just before the start of the school and during the first break when students had their snack.

"Similarly, at the waste centre the gulls were present in higher numbers on weekdays when the centre was open and trucks were unloading food waste.

"Although everybody has experienced or seen gulls stealing food from people in parks, our gulls mainly went to park first thing in the morning and this may be because earthworms and insects are present in higher numbers during these early hours."

This study is the most in-depth look at the feeding patterns of urban gulls, who appear to have adapted to forage for human food.

These traits help the birds to thrive in cities, and the results were surprising as urban environments are new for animals on an evolutionary timescale. Food patterns often fluctuate in cities more than in the wild, but gulls have managed to adapt to both daily and weekly cycles.

Dr Shane Windsor, co-author, said: "With this study in Bristol we have shown that gulls in cities are able to adapt their foraging schedule to make best use of food resources depending on their availability.

"Some gulls even used all three feeding grounds in the same day, suggesting they might track the availability to optimise their energy intake. These results highlight the behavioural flexibility of gulls and their ability to adapt to the artificial environments and time schedules of urban living."

Previous research has found that gulls enjoy stealing food from humans more than foraging for it - but another study found they are less likely to steal it if the person maintains eye contact with the bird.

Scientists have said that this shows the birds understand aspects of human behaviour and use it when they are looking for food. 

A university of Bristol spokesman said "Fitting birds with GPS backpacks reveals what we've long suspected: urban gulls know when and where to forage for human food.

"If you've ever seen a seagull snatch a pasty or felt their beady eyes on your sandwich in the park, you'd be right to suspect they know exactly when to strike to increase their chances of getting a human snack.

"However, until now, little has been known about how urban animals adapt to these time differences in human food availability."