<b>Responses of black-headed gulls (</b><b><i>Chroicocephalus ridibundus</i></b><b>)</b><b> to observers holding popguns: Adult and juvenile gulls differ</b>

In the Decembers of 2022 and 2023, this study conducted experiments to measure the FID in black-headed gulls (<i>Chroicocephalus ridibundus</i>) in Kunming City (24°23′-26°22 N, 102°10′-103°40′ E), Yunnan Province, southwestern China, and experiments were mainly conducted in parks and the Haigeng Dam in downtown Kunming.During China's long ban on guns and hunting, few studies have focused on the effects of hunting history on animal behavior. This study compared the flight initiation distance (FID) of black-headed gulls overwintering in Kunming, Yunnan, southwestern China, with different ages (adult and juvenile gulls) by experimenters holding different types of handhelds. The results showed that adult and juvenile black-headed gulls were more fearful of the experimenter holding the "gun" as evidenced by longer FIDs; however, unlike adult gulls, juvenile gulls escaped later. This study showed that hunting activities can directly impact the behavior of birds, and hunting history can influence the antipredator behavior in birds.