Witness the Wild Moment a Seagull Swallows an Unlucky Squirrel Whole

When it comes to sourcing meals, this is a seriously ambitious seagull. In the below clip, we see it trying, and succeeding, to swallow a squirrel – whole! It looks like the unlucky prey is a black squirrel but we cannot tell if the poor creature was already dead before it was consumed. At the beginning of the clip, the squirrel’s tail and rear limbs have not yet been swallowed. By the end of the clip, only the squirrel’s tail is protruding from the seagull’s beak.

Watch the Action Below

What Do Seagulls Normally Eat?

Seagulls are omnivorous seabirds but can often be found quite far inland. The term seagull can refer to herring gulls or lesser black-backed gulls. They are very good at both scavenging and hunting. These birds will feed on carrion and human food as well as hunt live prey. When they hunt for themselves, you will see them catching smaller birds, and many different types of fish including herring, mackerel, and sardines. They are also able to catch crabs and shrimp. Seagulls are happy to eat fruit and vegetables including potatoes, bananas, and apples. They have no problem in eating processed human food and can often be seen retrieving it from trash cans.

How Do Gulls Normally Find Food?

Seagulls have a keen sense of smell and great eyesight. They are also intelligent birds who soon work out where the largest sources of food can be found. This is why they often hang around fast food outlets and other areas where there is a lot of human garbage. They have a long bill with a hook at the end which is useful for hunting and for retrieving food from awkward areas. These guys are clever enough to know that if they drop a snail from a great height, they can crack the shell and eat the contents. Seagulls can source food in the air and this is how they grab insects. They can also hunt on land and in water. This makes them highly adaptable predators and scavengers.

How Are Seagulls Able to Swallow Squirrels Whole?

Seagulls will eat anything that fits down their throat. They have an organ called a gizzard which is essentially a part of the stomach with a muscular wall that grinds up food. The gizzard separates the nutritious part of the meal from the rubbish. The desirable food makes its way into the intestines and the rest of it turns into a pellet which the seagull then coughs up. Presumably, quite a lot of the squirrel will end up as a pellet!

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/Evgenyi_Eg