A 'killer seagull' has been spotted dragging pigeons into Hyde Park's Serpentine lake and drowning them before eating the bodies.

Visitors to the central London park say the hungry bird has taken to grabbing the pigeons by the neck before pulling them into the water.

It is thought that the same seagull has been spotted on the banks of the Serpentine hunting pigeons and feasting on their remains for the past five years.

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Hunter: A 'killer seagull' has been spotted grabbing pigeons by the neck, dragging them into Hyde Park's Serpentine lake and drowning them before eating the bodies

Vicious: Visitors to the central London park say the hungry bird has taken to grabbing the pigeons by the neck before pulling them into the water

Amateur photographer Johanna van de Woestijne, 57, was walking in the park when she witnessed its dramatic hunting technique.

She said: 'It was one of the most violent things I have ever seen - after it happened I felt I had witnessed a murder.

'I’ve seen him hunting pigeons on two separate days, both times he picked them off, dragged them into the lake and drowned them.

'He is easy to spot as he has a distinctive look. He is fairly squat and looks muscular, like a bodybuilder. It must be the high meat diet he’s living on.'

Witness: Photographer Johanna van de Woestijne, 57, said the way the seagull killed the pigeon was 'one of the most vicious things' she had ever seen, and said it had been like watching a murder

Unusual: Bird experts have said that the behaviour is extremely unusual for lesser black-backed gulls - which usually survive on a diet of small fish, aquatic insects and crustaceans

The aggressive bird wades into a crowd of pigeons, picks out a straggler, then sprints up and seizes it by the neck.

It then drags its prey into the Serpentine and drowns it before eating it with his mate.

Bird experts have said that the behaviour is extremely unusual for lesser black-backed gulls - which usually survive on a diet of small fish, aquatic insects and crustaceans.

Birdwatcher, Ralph Hancock, 66, said he had been observing the menacing gull in the same spot for the past five years.

'It is one of the strangest things I have ever seen a bird do,' he said.

Dinner time: After drowning the pigeon in the water, the gull shares its prey with its female mate

'This particular gull has been doing this for at least five years, and the stripped corpses of pigeons are often found on the shore of the lake.'

Mr Hancock, who writes a blog about the behaviour of birds in Hyde Park, said the gull had developed its murderous technique over several years.

He said: 'The gull began by dropping from the restaurant roof on pigeons flying underneath, but found this inefficient and switched to running at them on the shore.

'Gulls can’t hunt their prey like hawks, which have powerful feet that can strangle a bird even if it’s almost as large as they are. Gulls have weak little webbed feet, that is why they have to drag the bird into the water and drown it.'

Distinctive: Park visitors say the bird is fairly squat and looks muscular, 'like a bodybuilder'

Repeat offender: The same gull is thought to have been feasting on the pigeons for at least five years, and the stripped corpses of the birds are often found on the shore of the lake

Mr Hancock said he had not seen any other gulls in the park eating the pigeons.

'Normally when a gull has a successful feeding strategy, other gulls copy it - this is why so many gulls snatch ice cream at the beach,' he said.

'No other gull has managed to copy it here, at least not so far - the others probably aren’t powerful enough.

'The gull is male and has a mate, who is smaller - male gulls are slightly larger than females. She doesn’t take part in the killing, but comes in afterwards and they share the pigeon.'