Jonathan living-room seagull knows when he's on to a good thing

ROSS GIBLIN/ The Dominion Post

CONSTANT VISITOR: Jonathan the black-backed gull lets Vaughn Tilley know when it's time for a feed by dropping empty shells on his house roof.

Vaughn Tilley has formed an unusual bond with a TV-watching seagull that drops empty shells on his roof when it is time for a feed.

The black-backed seagull first appeared at Mr Tilley's Lowry Bay home near Eastbourne eight years ago. "He just turned up on the roof.

"I managed to entice it down with some food, and it's been hanging around ever since."

Mr Tilley, 59, a decorator, named the big gull Jonathan after the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.

Jonathan turns up twice a day like clockwork, in the mornings and evenings, and more often if Mr Tilley has mussels. "He really likes mussels."

The gull lets Mr Tilley know when it's time for a feed by dropping empty sea shells on the roof of his home. It now eats from his hand.

"People say birds are stupid or whatever, but he's definitely showed he is quite smart."

Otago University zoologist Shinichi Nakagawa said black-backed gulls were intelligent, aggressive loners.

"They usually like to spend their time beating the crap out of other birds."

Jonathan's behaviour was likely to be motivated by the quest for food, rather than a need for companionship, Dr Nakagawa said.

"It's quite unusual for an anti-social species to behave this way. If you look at most domestic animals, like dogs, they have a social structure very similar to humans."

Scavengers by nature, black-backed seagulls can live more than 30 years.

Despite the obvious attraction of a free feed, Mr Tilley said the gull seemed to enjoy spending time at his home. "It sometimes sits on the balcony and watches TV through the window. It doesn't call out or anything – we can see it in the reflection."

He was hopeful the gull would be hanging out for a few more years yet. "Everyone has cats and dogs, I've got a seagull. It might not bring me my slippers, but I'm lucky to have it as a friend."

- © Fairfax NZ News