James McKenzie spat out a piece of his tongue in the street after Bethaney Ryan, 27, violently ripped it out with his teeth during an incident in Edinburgh.
The great seagull then flew and grabbed the fleshy muscle with its beak and left before the injured man could recover it.
The Edinburgh Sheriff’s Court was informed of the terrible incident – which left the victim mutilated for life – when Ryan appeared on the dock to plead guilty to the attack last Thursday.
Prosecutor Susan Dickson said the two clashed when they met at Leith Walk in the capital, around 8 pm on August 1, 2019.
Mrs. Dickson said the two were strangers to each other, but “an argument broke out” between them and the court heard that Ryan had initially tried to stay away from the confrontation.
The prosecutor said McKenzie continued to be aggressive with Ryan and he approached her again with “a fist.”
Mrs. Dickson said: “Ms. Ryan, somewhat strangely, responded to that by pushing him into the body and kissing him.
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“She kissed him on the lips and during the course she bit his tongue, which caused a piece of his tongue to be removed.
“Mr. McKenzie stepped away and spat out a part of his tongue, at which point the piece of muscle was grabbed by a large seagull that escaped with the piece of tongue.”
The prosecutor told the court that the piece of tongue bitten during the fight was approximately two inches by three inches.
Ryan was later arrested by the police and McKenzie went to the hospital for treatment where “the laceration on his tongue” was considered “blood running”.
The inspector added: “He did not need surgery because the piece of tongue was no longer available and could not be replaced”.
Defense attorney Neil Martin said his client’s attack in Lochend, Edinburgh, was “a very strange incident in the round”, but added that he would reserve his full mitigation for the sentencing hearing.
Sheriff Nigel Ross said “because of the serious nature of the incident” that he needed to postpone the sentence for the preparation of reports later this year.
Ryan pleaded guilty to assaulting James McKenzie by pushing him against the body, kissing and biting part of his tongue due to serious injuries and permanent disfigurement at Leith Walk, Edinburgh, on August 1, 2019.