Seagulls – How do they know when the tractor is ploughing?

If you’ve ever walked through Norfolk’s countryside, especially near The Broads or along the windswept coastal farmlands, you’ll likely have spotted seagulls resting in fields or circling overhead.

But something incredible happens when a tractor begins ploughing, what was once a scattered group of birds suddenly turns into a swarm of thousands, diving and feasting on the freshly turned earth.

How do they know? Are they watching, listening, or do they have some secret natural radar for farming?

The answer is a fascinating mix of sight, sound, learned behaviour, and social communication, an age-old instinct adapted to modern machinery.

A Feast from the Soil

Ploughing disturbs the soil, bringing earthworms, insects, and other small invertebrates to the surface, an all-you-can-eat buffet for hungry seagulls. As opportunistic feeders, these birds have learned to anticipate where and when a feast will appear, making them experts at tracking farm activity.

But how do they time their arrival so perfectly?

Sharp Eyes on the Land

Seagulls are highly observant birds, often watching for movement from high vantage points, such as rooftops, cliffs, or trees. Their keen eyesight allows them to spot tractors from miles away, and once they’ve identified a pattern, such as a particular field or farm that ploughs regularly, they remember it.

This is why you’ll often see the same flocks returning to the same locations every year, perfectly in sync with seasonal farm work.

Listening for the Tractor’s Call

While sight is their primary tool, seagulls may also listen for the deep rumble of a tractor’s engine or the rhythmic scrape of the plough cutting through soil. These distinct sounds act as a signal, drawing them in before the work has even begun.

Their sharp hearing helps them detect ploughing activity even before they see it, allowing them to arrive right on time.

The Seagull Social Network

Seagulls are incredibly social birds, when one finds a profitable food source, others follow. A single bird diving into freshly ploughed earth sets off a chain reaction, attracting more gulls as they call out and signal to the rest of the flock.

This explains why thousands of seagulls can appear within minutes, they are responding not just to the tractor but to their fellow birds, creating an airborne network of information.

An Ancient Instinct in a Modern Landscape

While this behaviour is commonly associated with tractors today, seagulls have likely been following ploughing activity for centuries, if not millennia. Before modern machinery, they would have flocked behind oxen and horse-drawn ploughs, and before that, they likely followed wild boars and other animals that turned over the earth naturally.

It’s a perfect example of how wildlife has adapted to human activity, using farming to their advantage.

Where to Spot This in Norfolk

If you’re interested in seeing this phenomenon for yourself, here are some great locations in Norfolk where seagulls and farming activity often come together:

• The Broads National Park – Look for ploughed fields near water bodies, where gulls frequently gather.
• Cley Marshes & North Norfolk Coast – Coastal farmland attracts both seabirds and gulls in large numbers.
• Farms Around The Wash & King’s Lynn – A hotspot for migrating and resident gulls, especially in winter.
• Farmland Along the A47 & A140 Corridors – Watch for gulls tracking tractors near major agricultural areas.

Next Time You See a Swarm

So next time you’re out walking and see a cloud of seagulls diving into a freshly ploughed field, you’ll know it’s not just luck or coincidence, it’s a well-honed survival skill combining keen observation, memory, communication, and instinct.

And if you watch closely, you might even notice some gulls arriving early, waiting patiently, as if they knew the tractor was coming all along.