Humans have a reputation for having the best reputation for Seagulls. Scientists have placed small-brained waterbirds in a relatively low level of cognitive complexity along with pigeons.
Some of these species might be smarter than we think. The first evidence that ring-billed gulls can solve the same kinds of puzzles as parrots and corvids was found in a new study.
Researchers found many people capable of solving the string-pull test in the four different colonies of wild gulls located in Newfoundland, Canada.
The test is one of the most studied among animals. If a mammal or bird can figure out how to get a food reward, that's a sign of problem-solving.
Most of the birds that have been put through the test have been perching. Waterbirds are not as well known.
Despite the fact that shorebirds, gulls, and auks are remarkably good at adapting to novel environments, the authors of the current research could only find a few past studies that had put waterbird cognitive ability to the test. Tools are used to catch fish.
Researchers decided to put ring-billed gulls through a horizontal pull-string test. A piece of sausage is locked inside a transparent plastic box and connected to a string on the ground. The birds have to pull the string to get the sausage out of the box.
The box's presence had to be habituated to the wild gulls. Researchers put an empty box next to the gulls' wild nest to make it harder for them to build new ones. The box was empty but there was a piece of sausage outside.
Researchers put a sausage on a string inside the box after doing this four times. A sausage was placed on the outside to see if the bird would look at it.
Researchers counted a total of 138 parent gulls at 93 nests, returning to their nest to investigate the box.
104 people tried to solve the string-pull test in at least one of the trials.
One successful attempt is shown in the video.
Lamarre and Wilson are from the Royal Society Open Science.
The authors said that if they investigated the box, they would usually start by consuming the sausage placed at the slit beside the string.
They either ignored the box or interacted with it further by putting their bill inside the slit or by pulling on the string.
There were wild gulls in all four colonies. 25 percent of the time, they pulled the sausage out of the box to eat, and 21 percent did it on their first try.
Three gulls were able to repeat their success after trying the experiment a number of times.
Only two individuals were able to complete the puzzle on their first try, but 43 percent of birds were able to complete it.
The authors argue that a success rate of 21 percent on the first attempt and 25 percent overall is strong evidence that ring-billed gulls are proficient at solving this configuration of the string-pull test.
Our conclusions are based on a large sample of 104 ring-billed gulls that were distributed among 84 nest and four colonies that encompass the diverse urban and rural opportunities that ring-billed gulls naturally exploit.
It is not clear what this means for gulls. The string-pull test has been criticized for not measuring problem-solving.
A study found that New Caledonia crows continued to pull the string because the food kept getting closer. They stopped if the string was coiled and the food wasn't moving closer. The researchers argued that the birds are pulling the string because they can see it working, not because they have a plan of action.
Further research is needed to understand what birds are trying to achieve when they pull on a string. More complex conditions can help tease out different motives.
Researchers could introduce two strings to the experiment. The bird would need to pick the right string to pull if only one is connected to a sausage.
These experiments aren't just for scientific curiosity. They can give us important information about birds.
Climate change could make it harder for seabirds to find food as human activity continues to change coastal habitats.
If the birds are up to the task, it will be better for them.
The study was published in a journal.
