Trample
" Trample " (English paddling or foot-paddling ) is the behavior of seagulls in which the bird (or several) standing up makes relatively quick, trampling movements with its feet. The head is tilted down a little and moved to and fro while observing.
This behavior occurs in connection with the search for food in two cases: On the one hand, the bottom is swirled up in shallow water, on mud flats or in small tidal pools and living beings such as worms, crustaceans or mussels are brought to light - either because they are stirred up, or because they are trying to get to safety. On the other hand, it is used on meadows or lawns, where it causes certain types of earthworms to try to save themselves to the earth's surface in an innate reaction.
Similar behaviors can also be observed in other birds, for example water treaders , plovers and ducks .
literature
- Niko Tinbergen : A Herring Gull's World - The Study of the Social Behavior of Birds , Collins, London 1953 (5th edition from 1976), ISBN 0-00-219444-9 , p. 32f
- Ryan P. O'Donell: Terrestrial Foot-Paddling by a Glaucous-winged Gull , Western Birds 39/1 (2008), pp. 33-35. ( PDF )
- PA Buckley: Foot-paddling in Four American Gulls, with Comments on its Possible Function and Stimulation , Ethology - International Journal of Behavioral Biology 23/4, Blackwell Verlag GmbH, 1966, pp 395-402. doi: 10.1111 / j.1439-0310.1966.tb01603.x
- Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim , KM Bauer : Handbook of the birds of Central Europe . Volume 8 / I: Charadriiformes. 3rd part: snipe, gull and alken birds. AULA-Verlag, ISBN 3-923527-00-4 .
Web links
- Video of a ring-billed gull "trampling", accessed on February 22, 2012.
