Hawk hired as 'head of seagull security' to protect visitors at boat show from having their chips stolen

He will be on duty on September 14 and members of the public will also have the opportunity to meet him and get pictures with the hawk.

It comes after new research by the boat show found that Southampton has one of the highest seagull-related chip theft rates in the UK, with 44 per cent of people experiencing this.

It comes as new research suggests that while seagulls may occasionally steal chips, they tend to prefer their own cuisine – raw fish. Given a choice, chicks raised on an "urban" diet of bread and cat food showed more interest in meals that would normally come through foraging, such as mackerel and sprat.

Emma Inzani, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall, said: "Even when reared on an ‘urban’ diet of foods found only around people, these chicks might be unlikely to seek out urban foods as adults.

"Human-associated foods are often both reliably present and easy to obtain – but when fish is available they clearly prefer it."

She said easy access to human foods, combined with reduced fish numbers in UK waters, mean "it is not as profitable for gulls to spend a lot of energy going out to sea to forage."

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Herring gulls have gained notoriety in recent years, often snatching food from people’s takeaway boxes or scavenging for leftovers. There have also been reports of seagulls going into people’s homes and eating cat food. But due to population decline, herring gulls are now on the UK’s List of Highest Conservation Concern.

Previous research has shown parent gulls often switch to finding more seafood once their chicks hatch. The researchers said the chicks’ preference for fish, which has more nutrients than human-made meals, appears to reinforce this behaviour.

Dr Neeltje Boogert, research fellow in behavioural ecology at the University of Exeter, said: "Animals can live and exploit urban areas for human food waste.

"However, this does not necessarily mean they’re thriving or that they prefer this food, rather than making the best of a bad situation. More research is needed to investigate how the food young animals receive affects their later life, including their food choices, health and breeding."

It comes after scientists at the University of Sussex found that the birds are more likely to steal food if they see humans enjoying something similar. Researchers placed brightly coloured crisp packets on Brighton Beach, then sat nearby either eating crisps from a blue or green packet.

They found that in 95 per cent of cases, herring gulls pecked at the packet that matched the colour of the packet from which the researcher was eating, suggesting the birds were taking notice of the food that humans were choosing.

The only time the birds ignored the crisps was when the tide was low and they could reach molluscs and fish near the shoreline, the researchers found.