When it comes to smart birds, a seagull in Britain called Steven really takes the biscuit.
Not a biscuit literally. More packets of chips and anything with a taste of cheese.
Steven Seagull has attracted international headlines by raiding a supermarket in Devon for snacks. According to British press reports, Steven has so far munched his way through about $530 worth of such British favourites as Mini Cheddars, Monster Munch and Tangy Cheese Doritos. In all he has consumed an estimated 17kg.
The management of the Tesco’s supermarket in the seaside town of Paignton are not impressed by the raider in the aisles, who gains access to the store by timing when the electronic doors are opened by approaching customers.
He has been banished to the pavement, and now parades up and down the entrance to the store, demanding food from customers. Because of his reputation and star power he tends to get it. He is after all named after the American actor, Steven Seagal.
I learned of the herring gull’s anti-social behaviour listening to local radio in my car one morning. By coincidence it was the same day that I had signed up for Birdlife Tasmania’s annual gull count, the 39th,, which took place last month.
Gulls making the headlines do not come as a surprise because these curious birds often live in close proximity to humans and gull and human lives intersect. Gulls, along with town pigeons and house sparrows, are among the most obvious of birds. For this reason they are often studied and research has shown that, in the lives of the gulls at least, their unhealthy diet in the cities is causing health issues.
A study comparing the health of silver gulls in Hobart and those on Bass Strait islands has found that the local ones are overweight and suffering similar health issues which inflict human city dwellers who eat fast food, like high levels of cholesterol.
Birdlife Tasmania points out that our gulls, along with other bird species, can be considered the “canary in the coalmine”, warning humans of not only personal health issues but wider environmental concerns like pollution.
The gull count is designed to monitor numbers of the three species found in Tasmania, the silver, kelp and Pacific gulls. The count is the longest running gull survey in the country.
Since the start of counts in the early 1980s, numbers of the three Tasmanian species have increased. Birdlife Tasmania members, however, remain vigilant.
The count across south-east Tasmania embraced 400 kilometres of coastline, plus rubbish tips. My section always covers the Derwent from the Tasman Bridge to New Norfolk but in 20 years I have never come across a gull raiding supermarkets – perhaps that’s because there are plenty of chips up for grabs at one of my points of call, the McDonald’s car park at Bridgewater.