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can seagulls sense colour?? (1 Viewer)

Yes, like most (?all) birds, gulls have excellent color vision, maybe better than ours. [In fact, unlike us, some species of birds--though I don't know if this is true of gulls specifically--can "see" into the ultra-violet range]. Gulls afraid of "red"? I doubt it: some species have red bills or legs & many have red spots on their billsls
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On the other hand, they will easily be encouraged to relocate to another part of the beach at the approach of someone wearing a red anorak and throwing a ball for a dog to fetch.
 
A few times over the years i have seen gulls geting red paint on their heads. When its been noticed by the birds about it a panic ensued each time. I put it down to the birds thinking the red was blood and the bird in question was injured.
Whilst writing this i seem to remember that Alfred Hitchcock used the same sort of trick when he made the film The birds.
 
On the other hand, they will easily be encouraged to relocate to another part of the beach at the approach of someone wearing a red anorak and throwing a ball for a dog to fetch.

you would get exactly the same reaction if the person was wearing a brown anorak, or a green one, or a pink one with yellow spots. It's not the colour red, it's the dog, the human, and the sudden movement that does it.
 
Red is a signifacant colour to gulls. Not particualrly a colour for them to be afraid of. Red bill spots are feeding triggers to youngsters, and red bills and legs are essential, in some species, to help pick up a tasty dolly-bird gull.
 
you would get exactly the same reaction if the person was wearing a brown anorak, or a green one, or a pink one with yellow spots. It's not the colour red, it's the dog, the human, and the sudden movement that does it.

So you didn't notice the tongue in my cheek, then.
 
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