The increasingly urban lifestyle of seagulls in the UK and around Europe has made them experts at taking food from unsuspecting diners. Herring gulls in particular are notorious for stealing food from seaside towns like Falmouth in Cornwall, where I live.
One day at the beach last summer, I watched as someone rummaged through an unattended bag and came down with a packet of crisps. Unfortunately, the river didn’t stay long enough for me to see if it successfully opened the package.
Observing this kind of behavior has led me and my colleague Neeltje Boogert to explore new ways to prevent these intelligent birds. Our new research shows that displaying two eyes on food packaging can be enough to prevent other ducks from painting your food.
This builds on our previous work which showed that herring gulls approach food more slowly when someone is looking directly at them, compared to when they are looking away.
Many animals – wild and domesticated – are very familiar with the eyes, which can indicate the presence of a predator or be used to communicate with a target. Direct eye contact often conveys aggression, while looking away shows a lack of threat.
Animals often react defensively when they see eyes on them. This is probably a natural instinct, as avoiding being eaten by a predator can be a momentary response.
Some animals may become symptomatic to abuse this behavior. So-called eye pots are found in many insects, amphibians and fish, and come in a variety of colors, sizes and pattern combinations.
It has been hotly debated by scientists for more than a century about how the eye’s triggers can deter predators. They may increase the vigilance of prey animals by mistaking them for predators’ eyes, or divert attacks to less important parts of the body.
Because evolution suggests that eyes are a good way to increase animal awareness, the idea of mimicking nature by using false eyes to deter other animals has been tested in a variety of settings.
In Botswana, the wealth in the land is eaten by predators like lions and leopards that cause conflict with the rich. To test whether eye makeup could reduce the risk of predation, experimenters painted pairs of eyes or crosses on the walls of cows, or left them unmarked. This was repeated across several herds of cattle, and any cattle attacks were recorded.
During the study, 19 cows were killed by lions or leopards – but none of the cows had eye pieces in their flanks. They were also attacked less than cows with crosses or unmarked cows, suggesting that eye pots can prevent many types of animals.
Removed from the eyes
For our herring gull study, we tested this idea in coastal towns in Cornwall where gulls are known to take food from diners. We stuck pairs of eyes in the feeding boxes and gave individual ducks a choice of two boxes two meters apart on the floor: one box with eyes and one box only.
Gulls appeared to be blinded, as they were slower to approach and less likely to peck at these boxes, compared to those without eyes.
We also wanted to know if, over time, the gulls would learn that the eyes of the boxes are not scary. In order to test this, we gave 30 gulls one box with or without eyes, but we did this three times for each duck in a short time.
About half of the birds never looked at the box, while the other half quickly approached and clicked. This suggests that there may be a persistent effect from false eyes for some crows who do not realize they are being manipulated.
Now we want to test this in a more concrete way, by collaborating with food retailers and asking them to use the lookout boxes. Although this may prevent half of the wolves from stealing food, perhaps when combined with other distractions – including shouting – can have an impact on the amount of food theft.
Signs such as eyes are now used to exclude birds from certain areas, including keeping starlings away from crops, seabirds from fishing nets and raptors from airports. https://www.youtube.com/embed/vWzaM9dMM0c?wmode=transparent&start=0 Video: SciShow Psych.
Humans also respond to sight
It is interesting to note that humans, like ducks and many other animals, also pay attention to the eyes. Footage of people’s eyes has been found to reduce bike theft, boost loyalty, and even increase charitable donations – all by creating a sense of being watched. Maybe it’s because we’re a social species, and we tend to behave more honestly if we feel judged by someone watching.
But as with the herring gull, the effect on human behavior is inconsistent. Visual cues can motivate behavior in some situations, but they don’t work for everyone.
Whether it’s protecting chips, bicycles or cows, the next step is to understand why some animals (and people) don’t see with unsteady eyes. But already, the evidence is clear that fake eyes can provide a cheap, easy way to reduce conflicts with people and other animals.
Laura Kelley, Assistant Professor, Center for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter
This article is reprinted from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the first article.
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