Animal rescuers have urged people to take extra care around seagulls due to a phenomenon linked to flying ants which makes them act oddly.
Every summer swarms of flying ants emerge from their nests and move to new areas to try to establish new colonies.
While the popular myth of a single ‘flying ant day’ persists, they typically over a period of several weeks, triggered by hot weather, with a peak lasting a few days.
In some parts of the country, flying ants have already begun hatching.
Sompting Wildlife Rescue in Sussex today said this is ‘bringing unexpected trouble for our local seagulls’.
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Seagulls are known to flock to these swarms of ants and gorge on them.
‘When gulls gobble down a feast of ants, it can cause them to appear disoriented or ‘drunk’, stumbling around and struggling to fly properly,’ the charity told The Argus.
Social media users have begun sharing pictures of flocks of seagulls in places they typically wouldn’t linger, such as road surfaces or a busy cricket ground.
Residents of warmer regions have already remarked on an unusual number of seagulls apparently killed by cars.
Commenting on one such image, Tilly from Eastbourne, East Sussex, said she had seen six seagulls dead on local roads because ‘no one can be bothered to toot or go around them’.
A man driving through the town said he saw one killed by a car after failing to move out of the road with the rest of the flock.
It was previously thought that this so-called ‘drunkenness’ caused by formic acid contained in ants.
The substance is toxic to birds in sufficient amounts but can have a stimulant-like effect on them.
But experts now doubt that common ants of the kind seen flying around at the moment contain enough formic acid to have such an effect – and believe the effect is akin to the sluggishness humans experience after having a heavy meal on a scorching day.
Royal Society of Biology entomologist Rebecca Nesbit previously told BBC Countryfile her research indicates that formic acid ‘is found in higher concentrations in Formica ants than in the species we’re seeing most commonly on flying ant day’.
‘My answer to the question “can gulls get drunk on flying ants?” would be no,’ Dr Nesbit added.
‘Although formic acid can be toxic to birds, it is more likely that they are just too hot and full.’
Regardless of the cause, this phenomenon is agreed to be a threat to the birds’ lives.
‘This sadly makes them much more vulnerable near roads, as they may not move quickly enough to avoid traffic.
‘If you see a gull behaving strangely by the roadside, please slow down and give them space – they might just need a little time to recover.
‘These gulls can show symptoms that look like bird flu, which raises concerns. But in many cases, they’re not sick at all.’
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