Viral Video Shows Seagull Casually Sitting Atop Another Seagull In Flight

Seagulls are a common sight along coastlines around the world — usually seen soaring high overhead, or resting their wings atop some comfortable perch.

But what isn't so common is seeing a seagull doing both those things at once.

A fascinating video has been making the rounds online in recent days, showing just that.

In the now-viral clip, one seagull is seen literally riding on the back of another gull in flight — sitting like a casual commuter who's realized he can get where he's going without having to do any work.

But there may be more to this unusual scene than meets the eye.

The Dodo asked Peter Rock, an expert on urban gulls, to weigh in on this gull-riding gull's behavior. And surprisingly, given his years of observing these birds in the field, it's actually a new one for even him.

"It is amusing," Rock told The Dodo. "I’ve never seen this before."

Rock can't pinpoint for certain what's actually taking place in the video, or even if it's totally genuine for that matter, but he has a pretty good guess as to what the sitting bird is up to, if the clip is indeed legit:

"This is the exact position the gulls adopt for mating," Rock said. "Is this, in the gull world, what you’d call the mile high club?"