 Herring gulls commonly breed in urban areas. 鲱鱼鸥通常在城市地区繁殖。 This means they nest in roofs, rather than cliffs, and need a different kind of food from their usual marine prey. 这也意味着它们会在屋顶而不是悬崖上筑巢，需要一种不同于它们通常的海洋猎物的食物。 But these gray-and-white, pink-legged birds (Larus argentatus) don't like to wait for a meal, especially when they have young to feed. 但是这些灰白色的粉腿鸟(银鸥)可不喜欢等待食物，尤其是当它们有幼鸟要喂养的时候。  These pesky gulls are therefore known for swooping in and stealing food from unsuspecting humans enjoying a snack outside. 因此，这些讨厌的海鸥以俯冲而入，偷吃毫无戒心的人类在外面吃的零食而闻名。 Researchers believe they have a way to deter sneaky gull attacks — stare them down. 研究人员认为，他们有一种方法可以阻止海鸥偷袭——那就是盯着它们看。 The study, published in the journal Biology Letters by the Royal Society was conducted last year throughout coastal towns in Cornwall, located in southwestern England. 这项发表在英国皇家学会《生物学快报》杂志上，是去年在英格兰西南部康沃尔郡的沿海城镇进行的。  Taking into account increasing human-herring gull conflicts, a team of researchers in the U.K., led by Madeleine Goumas who is a postgraduate from the University of Exeter, studied how the species responds to human behavior. 考虑到人类与银鸥之间不断增加的冲突，英国的一个研究小组在埃克塞特大学研究生玛德琳·古马斯的带领下，研究了该物种对人类行为的反应。 Researchers planted a bag of abandoned potato chips on the ground to lure in 74 birds. 研究人员在地上放置了一袋废弃的薯片引诱了74只鸟。 When a gull would creep close to the food, an experimenter would crouch down to bird level and make eye contact. 当一只海鸥匍匐靠近食物时，实验者会蹲下到与鸟一样高的高度，进行眼神交流。 Only 36% of the birds pecked at the food anyway, while the majority either flew away or didn't get closer to the bait. 只有36%的鸟去啄了食物，而大多数要么飞走了，要么没有靠近诱饵。  "Gulls took significantly longer to approach the food source when the experimenter looked at them versus away," the research team wrote. “当实验员看着海鸥时，它们靠近食物的时间比不看着它们时明显更长了，”研究团队写道。 "This demonstrates that gulls use behavioural cues from humans when making foraging decisions in urban environments, and that they find human gaze aversive." “这表明，海鸥在城市环境中觅食时，会利用人类的行为线索，而且它们会对人类的目光产生反感。” The study suggests that herring gulls are less likely to approach even if a human is just nearby. 研究表明，即使人类仅仅只是在旁边，鲱鱼鸥靠近的可能也会降低。  Britain, which has six species of gulls, has specifically dealt with this annoyance for years. 英国有六种海鸥，他们多年来一直在专门处理这种烦恼。 The research team believes conflict between humans and gulls could exacerbate the gulls' population decline. 研究小组认为，人类和海鸥之间的冲突可能会加剧海鸥数量的下降。 Previous tactics used to remedy the problem included "lethal control or deterrents ... which often prove costly and ineffective and ignore species-and-individual-specific behaviour," according to the researchers. 以前用来解决这个问题的策略包括“处死控制数量或威慑……这往往被证明是昂贵和无效的，忽视了物种和个体特有的行为，”研究人员说。  Other alternatives have been proposed over the years, such as avoiding feeding the birds, using plastic owls to scare them away, holding up an umbrella or installing roof fixtures to prevent nesting. 多年来，人们还提出了其他替代方案，比如避免喂养这些鸟，用塑料猫头鹰吓跑它们，撑起一把伞，或者安装屋顶固定装置来防止筑巢。 The Old School House Pub in Aberdeen, Scotland, was reportedly among some British businesses that handed out water guns to customers to deter the gulls from approaching. 据报道，位于苏格兰阿伯丁的老派屋酒吧就是向顾客分发水枪以阻止海鸥靠近的英国企业之一。 Overall, it may be easier to just keep an eye on them. 总体来说，还是就多盯着点儿它们这样比较省事。  The herring gulls are facing a steep decline. Between 1966 and 2015, the species' population decreased yearly by more than 3.5%, resulting in a 83% drop. 鲱鱼鸥的数量正面临急剧下降。从1966年到2015年，该物种的数量每年减少3.5%以上，导致了总共83%的下降。 According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, human activities are the main threats including overfishing, pesticide contamination, and oil pollution. 据康奈尔大学鸟类学实验室称，人类活动是主要威胁，包括过度捕捞、杀虫剂污染和石油污染。 All gulls are protected under Britain's Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, making it illegal to injure any species, or damage eggs or an occupied nest. 所有的海鸥都受到1981年英国野生动物和乡村法案的保护，因此伤害任何物种、破坏鸟蛋或被占用的鸟巢都是非法的。 However, in some cases, the destruction of eggs or nests, but not the killing of birds, is allowed for public health and safety reasons with a special license. 然而，在某些情况下，出于公共卫生和安全的理由，并持有特别许可证时，可以破坏鸟蛋或鸟窝，但不允许捕杀鸟类。   问题  英国总共有几种海鸥？ 留言回复正确答案，前十名朋友可以获得红包奖励哦，赶快来试试吧！ · END ·  感谢关注 跟amber一起看世界 |
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