Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/seagull-riding-on-seagull/

Those who live near on a coast near seagulls know that the birds usually have a pretty poor reputation. They’re constantly swarming parking lots and boats in hopes of getting some food and some even view them as unintelligent.

In fact, they’re regularly referred to as “sea rats” or “sea chickens.” However, they’re actually pretty smart.

One video captured just how smart seagulls are when it showed one seagull catching a ride on the back of another seagull!

In the video shared on Twitter by @buitengebieden_, you can see two seagulls that appear to be flying right on top of each other. As the birds get closer, it’s clear that one bird is hitching a ride on top of the other – mid-flight!

Eventually, a gust of wind picks up and the bird hitching the ride is swept off the top of the other seagull and they both continue flying on their own.

The impressive video quickly gained attention and was shared over 23,000 times.

Naturally, people wanted to know why and how this happened! Is it normal for seagulls to give each other rides?

While we may not have answers for that yet, there was a similar instance that happened back in 2016. Reddit user u/dsaddons shared a photo of one seagull standing directly on top of another. They weren’t flying, but the photo still gained quite a bit of attention for how strange it was.

Mashable shared an article on the photo. In the article, they asked a research scientist at the Australian Musem, Richar Major, about the phenomena. Major said, “They don’t look too enthusiastic, but it’s hard to tell what happens next from a still. It is most likely to be a preliminary to copulation or an attempt at such.”

It’d be interesting to know what he thinks about these birds in the sky!

Watch the video below

No way! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/62UF9c7GBw

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden_) April 24, 2021

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog