An Ethogram Identifies Behavioural Markers of Attention to Humans in European Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus)

Abstract

Herring gulls are one of few species thriving in anthropogenic landscapes. Their history of urbanisation and familiarity with people makes them a good target for studies of human-wildlife interactions. Previous research highlights a connection between food-stealing behaviour, success in anthropogenic areas, and increased attention towards humans, raising questions about the exact extent of a gulls knowledge of human food cues. To explore these, behavioural responses to human cues in a food-related context were investigated and presented in a systematic ethogram, which identified three distinct markers of attention. Head turns, approaches, and angular body position all differed significantly between control and food conditions, showing that attention towards humans in a food-related context was upregulated and reflected in behaviour. In food condition trials, head turns occurred more often and gulls faced towards the experimenter with occasional approaches that were never seen in control conditions. Additionally, juvenile gulls exhibited less head turns, indicating lower vigilance, while neither approaches nor pecks differed between age groups. Interestingly, no group effects on attentional markers were found. Acoustic and behavioural human food-like cues alone seemed insufficient to elicit these responses, indicating that gulls specifically paid attention to the details of human behaviour. These results show situation-dependent attentional modulation in gulls and provide a description of attentive behaviours that can be used in further study. SummaryUrbanised herring gulls successfully benefited from anthropogenic food sources. We showed that human food-centred behaviours directly modulated the attentional states of gulls.