Hungry Seagull Steals Food From Teen's Mouth in Video Viewed Over 2 Million Times

A video of a hungry seagull boldly stealing food from an unsuspecting teenager as he tries to take a bite of his snack himself has gone viral online — and nauseated viewers.

Footage of the incident was posted on TikTok late last week by Sophie, also known on the video-sharing platform as @sophieellenmcgill. The video begins with an overview of a parking lot in Glasgow, Scotland, before turning to a teenager snacking on a wrap and soft drink from KFC.

With Kreepa's "Oh No" playing in the background, the video slows down to isolated still photos, showing one particularly hungry seagull taking notice of the snack and deciding to go in for a bite itself.

The bird appears to get a portion of its beak in the teenager's mouth -- just as he is about to take a bite -- to steal a nibble. In one hilarious screenshot, the boy makes a horrified face as the seagull successfully comes away with a bite of the wrap. The video ends as the seagull flies off as the teenager runs in the opposite direction.

Sophie spoke with Newsweek, confirming the hilarious events of the video did happen to her brother Matthew. "My brother bought a flaming hot wrap from KFC and we were waiting outside for someone to pick us up," she explained. "In the process my brother got hungry so started to eat the wrap and that's when the seagull thought it would benefit himself more than Matthew."

The brief video, captioned "Seagull 1 Matthew 0," has since been viewed over 2.4 million times and liked by nearly 275,000 viewers. Many viewers took to the comments to joke about how they would have responded in that moment if a seagull tried stealing their food.

"THE AUDACITY. OMG I'd be FUMING," one said. "I would literally punch that [seagull's] head off," another added. "I would simply pass away," one person even boldly proclaimed.

According to a report from Science Focus Magazine with the BBC, seagulls have always been considered aggressive animals, usually when defending their nest or children. However, as the seagull population increases, they seemingly appear more violent than before.

"In the wild, herring gulls might only raise one chick to maturity for every 10 breeding pairs per year," the outlet reported. "The rest are lost to predation from other seabirds, birds of prey and seals. In contrast, gulls that nest in cities have more secure nests and much greater access to food, mostly from rubbish bins and landfill sites."

Several also commiserated with Matthew, sharing that he is not the only person to fall victim to a determined seagull. "Here on Cape Cod ... always happens!!!" one person shared. "They did the same thing to me in Brittany [in France], I was quietly eating my panini and POOF the seagull," another chimed in.

Multiple commenters also expressed shock that the seagull had managed to get part of its beak in Matthew's mouth. "Yo mate ... lucky you didn't lose a tonsil," one reflected. "IT ACTUALLY GOT INSIDE HIS MOUTH," another proclaimed in surprise.

Sophie told Newsweek that she has been blown away by the response online, and never imagined such a silly clip would go viral. "I [only] started filming because he told me he could fit the whole wrap in his mouth," she joked.

This seagull in Glasgow is not the only bird going viral for its food antics.

In May, footage of a seagull entering a grocery store and nabbing a sandwich from the shelves quickly found an audience on Twitter and has been viewed more than 11 million times since posting. In 2019, another aggressive seagull snatched to grab a baby shark from the New Jersey shore and horrified beachgoers as it ate the fish whole.