Mine! Mine! Mine!

Seagulls are attacking Sydneysiders, swooping down and pinching food right out of peoples’ hands.

The hot spot for the problem is outside McDonald’s on Alfred Street, Circular Quay where the gulls are perching on nearby buildings in anticipation for an easy feed.

“I feel invaded and violated and I’m a fully grown man!” said a gentleman after losing his burger to the swooping gulls.

Debbie Reznek, who has also lost a sandwich to the greedy birds, speculates this is the reason why nobody eats lunch on the Alfred Street pedestrian concourse.

“It’s such a nice big paved area,” said Mrs Reznek who works at Circular Quay.

“They should have signs up saying ‘Beware of seagulls’

“I live near the beach and I know about seagulls but these ones don’t even give you warning!” she said.

After City News experienced the problem first hand and complained to McDonald’s, an employee said: “It happens all the time. It’s best you eat inside.”

McDonald’s spokesperson Skye Oxenham said this was the reason why “the [Circular Quay] restaurant does not have outdoor seating available.”

To ward off the pests, McDonald’s installed spikes on their sign. But this has not kept the gulls away.

Bird expert and president of the Southern Oceans Seabirds Study Association, Lindsay Smith, said: “Gulls are very difficult to control. They’re a problem world over.”

Mr Smith said silver gulls were natural scavengers and had “no fear for humans whatsoever”.

“It’s not an uncommon occurrence. Particularly if the gulls have been foraging a particular area like shopping malls…they become quite brazen,” he said.

But Mr Smith said seagulls did not pose a major health problem and were generally clean.

To fix the problem he suggested: “People need to learn to not feed them.”