Inter-species stimulus enhancement: herring gulls (Larus argentatus) mimic human food choice during foraging

摘要: Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) are one of few species that thrive in anthropogenic landscapes, and their familiarity with people makes them an excellent target for studies of inter-species social cognition. Urban gulls pay attention to human behaviour in food-related contexts and, thus, we set out to investigate whether such cues can influence a gull's attention to and choice of potential food items in their environment. Herring gulls were given free choice of two differently coloured anthropogenic food items in the presence of a demonstrator, who was either sitting still or eating food from an item that matched one of the presented ones. We found that a demonstrator eating significantly increased the likelihood of a gull pecking one of the presented items. Furthermore, 95% of pecks were directed toward the presented food item that colour-matched the demonstrator's food item. The results showed gulls were able to use …