Cooper Wallace, a nine-year-old boy from Derbyshire, has captured hearts and headlines after winning a European seagull impersonation contest.
His passion for seabirds and knack for mimicking their sounds impressed both the audience and judges at the contest held in Belgium.
Talking to the British newspaper The Times, Wallace said, “My school friends thought it was annoying at first. But not now. I did it. I just wanted to make the noise to remember I got pecked by one. But I like seagulls.”
He said that he felt like they were a really nice animal, adding he liked them because of their noise.
Clad in a seagull costume, the young boy jokingly compared his situation to that of Spiderman's origin story. "Spider-Man got bit by a spider and turned into Spider-Man, and I got bit by a seagull, so now I am Seagull Boy," he said.
The competition saw participants giving their best screeching sounds before a lively audience.
Jan Seys, a marine biologist and president of the judging panel, commended the young boy for his outstanding performance.
He said that the winner managed to include several call types in his performance and each of them resembled a real seagull call in the most impressive way.
Seys said that the judges pay attention to timbre, rhythm as well as variation.
