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How do herring gulls break open shellfish?

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Two wild horses graze on tall grass in the open prairie of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, with rolling badlands visible in the background. — Feeding behaviour Wild horses graze in the Badlands of North Dakota.

Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) are adaptable scavengers that often include mollusks in their diet. To access the soft tissue inside, they employ a specific feeding behaviour: they pick up the mollusk, fly over a hard surface, and drop the shell from the air to crack it open.1