{"id":4820,"date":"2026-07-21T12:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T12:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/21\/seagulls-are-getting-drunk-on-flying-ants\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T12:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T12:06:08","slug":"seagulls-are-getting-drunk-on-flying-ants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/21\/seagulls-are-getting-drunk-on-flying-ants\/","title":{"rendered":"Seagulls are getting &#039;drunk&#039; on flying ants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>2026-07-21 12:06:07<\/b><br \/>\n<BR>Seagulls are getting intoxicated by feasting on swarms of flying ants, leaving the birds stumbling through streets and even holding up traffic, experts have claimed.<BR><br \/>\nOrnithologists say the bizarre behaviour has been spotted in parts of Suffolk, including Lowestoft and Aldeburgh, where gulls have been seen appearing woozy after gorging on the insects during this summer&#8217;s hot weather in the UK.<BR><br \/>\nThe birds are taking advantage of the annual flying ant season, when winged ants emerge in huge numbers to establish new colonies.<BR><br \/>\nBut scientists believe the feast may come with an unexpected side effect.<BR><br \/>\nDr Viola Ross-Smith, from the British Trust for Ornithology, says the ants release formic acid as a defence mechanism when threatened, and consuming large quantities could temporarily affect the birds.<BR><br \/>\nShe explained: &#8220;Ants produce formic acid and because it\u2019s a mild toxin, the gulls can act a bit woozy and come across as drunk.<BR><br \/>\n&#8220;The hypothesis is the formic acid is affecting them as ethanol affects us.&#8221;<BR><br \/>\nFlying ants are most commonly seen around the middle of July, when queens emerge from underground and take to the skies to mate and establish new nests.<BR><br \/>\nThe recent spell of warm weather has created ideal conditions for mass swarms, giving gulls an all-you-can-eat buffet.<BR><br \/>\nDr Ross-Smith stressed that the theory has yet to be scientifically proven and other explanations remain possible.<BR><br \/>\nShe said: &#8220;It is just a hypothesis at the moment. Some say the birds might be so distracted by the food source they\u2019re not paying attention. Or that they are overwhelmed by the food.<BR><br \/>\n&#8220;You do see blankets of gulls walking in the road and staggering around on the pavement, getting in the way of cars.<BR><br \/>\n&#8220;Usually they\u2019re bold birds who don\u2019t shy away from humans. I would really love for someone to test the theory and see if formic acid is making the gulls drunk.&#8221;<BR><br \/>\nDespite the unusual scenes, the expert said there is no reason for alarm.<BR><br \/>\nDr Ross-Smith added: &#8220;They\u2019re taking the opportunity to gorge on the insect protein. We\u2019re happy to let nature get on with it.&#8221;<BR><br \/>\nShe advised members of the public only to seek help if a gull appears genuinely injured or unwell, rather than simply dazed after its flying ant feast.<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Visit Bang Bizarre (main website) <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><script src=\"https:\/\/geo.dailymotion.com\/player\/xtbac.js\" data-video=\"\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2026-07-21 12:06:07 Seagulls are getting intoxicated by feasting on swarms of flying ants, leaving the birds stumbling through streets and even holding up traffic, experts have claimed. Ornithologists say the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bizarre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4820"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4821,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4820\/revisions\/4821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}