Young gulls wear drab feathers to avoid fights, study finds

Looking immature has its perks — at least for American herring gulls. Research published June 4 in Animal Behavior shows that young gulls’ gray-brown feathers help them avoid attacks in crowded breeding colonies.

Scientists from Yale placed plastic gull models painted as either 1-year-olds or adults near real nests on Kent Island, New Brunswick. Breeding gulls were nearly 1.5 times more likely to act aggressively toward adult-looking models than toward juvenile ones. They also took about 7 seconds longer to react to the young models.

Gull colonies are densely packed and aggressive. “There’ll be a nest every two to three feet,” said researcher Molly Hill. Young gulls are often seen there even though they don’t need care or a mate. Researchers think the immature plumage acts as a social signal: “I’m not a threat.” The strategy may explain why so many seabird species keep drab feathers for years before reaching adult coloration.“I think this opens the door to a lot of research in other seabirds,” Hill said, noting similar patterns in albatrosses and gannets.