Strange gull behaviour

[Seajay]

Whilst my son and I were on holiday in Northumberland we observed very strange behaviour from a pair of Herring Gulls. We were just making our way back to the caravan from the beach when we saw the two appearing to dance! They were hopping from one foot to another in rapid succession and marking time on the spot whilst cackling to each other. It could have been some courtship ritual but to me it looked from their behaviour they were working in unison to entice worms or something from the ground. I think I read somewhere that birds do this to simulate rain falling?
Anyone seen anything similar?

Colin

[Jason Green]

See these links-

New Scientist Last Word Blog: Worm baiting

Gulls treading the ground - BirdForum

Hope they help...

[mrs fish]

A sight I love to watch the gulls tap dancing to bring the worms up

[Seajay]

Thanks Jason. Excellent links confirming what I thought. It would be interesting to discover how they know to do it. Someone says in the links he saw a parent bird 'teaching' a young bird the technique. I don't think so myself. More likely some sort of stimulus and inherent reaction. Honey bees for example react on pheremones not reasoning (a lot like women really)
I agree Mrs. Fish, it is a joy to watch and very amusing too but above all - intriguing!

Colin

[Jason Green]

Originally Posted by Seajay

Honey bees for example react on pheremones not reasoning (a lot like women really)
I agree Mrs. Fish, it is a joy to watch and very amusing too but above all - intriguing!

Mrs. Fish may have something to say...

[Seajay]

Shush! They might not notice

Colin

[NuttyMeg]

I live on the coast and frequently see this sort of behaviour. It's most amusing to watch and seems to be very successful too. What is even more interesting is that I see gulls doing it on the same patch of grass, everyday they will be there dancing away, do they know and remember it's a good patch? I can only assume it is the same birds as there are never more than 2 on a patch, either that or its a 'first come first serve' thing and then just a matter of chasing off intruders. Either way it's a very intreging behaviour to watch

Blackbirds also seem to do 'worming' to a degree but instead of tapping their feet in one spot they hop around a small area and then stop and wait then carry on.