Pecked by a bird

Nine-year-old is European seagull screeching champion

(Bild: Screenshot/kameraOne)

Whoever screams better wins: In the Belgian coastal town of De Panne, the curious European Seagull Screaming Championship has once again taken place. The nine-year-old Cooper Wallace from Derbyshire (Great Britain) was the resounding winner.

Screeching, screaming, squeaking, dozens of participants tried to imitate the call and behavior of the seabirds as authentically as possible in the fun competition. "It takes scientific observation to imitate seagull cries correctly," explain the initiators. The aim of the competition is to bring people closer to the love of seagulls - despite all the prejudices.

"Seagull boy" draws Spiderman comparison
Three categories awaited the screamers at the European Seagull Scream Championship, which was held for the fourth time. In addition to the adult and junior competitions, there was also a colony competition, i.e. the group competition, to win the favor of the jury. The participants were able to achieve a total of one hundred points.

Dressed as a seagull, nine-year-old Cooper emerged as the winner - the pupil nicknamed "Seagull Boy" scored 92 points. "Spider-Man was bitten by a spider and turned into Spider-Man. I was pecked by a seagull and now I'm Seagull Boy," he explained in a veritable round of interviews after the competition, explaining how he came by his passion for screeching.

"I was a bit nervous. I thought they were cheering for me because they wanted me to stop, but then I realized they were all smiling and cheering me on to keep going," Cooper said.

(Bild: Screenshot/kameraOne)

Winner "suspicious" of the birds
He told the Times of London that he had great respect for seagulls and his imitation - so the imitation was more of a tribute than a mockery. "I just wanted to make the noise to remind myself that I'd been pecked by one. But I like seagulls." However, he is not entirely comfortable with them, as he explained to the BBC. "I'm still a bit wary about eating on the beach."

Her offspring's hobby also initially caused his mother some annoyance, as she told the Derbyshire Times. At first she found the screeching annoying, but when she saw how talented her son was and "people were looking around for seagulls", she was "so proud" of him.

Boy even trumped adult winner
This talent was also recognized by marine biologist Jan Seys: "He managed to incorporate several types of calls into his performance, and each of them was impressively similar to a real seagull call. For me, he was not only the best of the young participants, but of all those who took part in the championship," he told the BBC.

Incidentally, the winner in the adult category was the scientist Simão João from Portugal. He achieved a respectable 87 out of 100 points, five less than Cooper.