HERRING gulls play with their food, say Jennifer Gamble and Daniel Cristol at the College of William & Mary, Virginia. This is the first study proving that birds do play (Animal Behaviour, vol 63, p 339). Gulls smash clam shells by dropping them onto rocks. But sometimes the birds do a series of drops, catching the clams before they hit the ground.
The researchers investigated alternative explanations for the behaviour, such as an attempt to change the clam’s position in the beak or a dummy run to spot birds that might steal the food. “I was sure there was some…
