Girl hit in face by seagull on New Jersey thrill ride

Kiley Holman says neither her nor the gull were badly injured at the New Jersey amusement park. Photo / Robert Reed

A 13-year-old girl was hit in the face by a seagull while riding an amusement park ride in New Jersey.

Kiley Holman was celebrating her friend Georgia Reed's birthday at Morey's Piers in Wildwood over the July public holiday when she was struck, NJ Advance Media reported.

Seconds into the SlingShot ride Holman was struck by a seagull 23 metres in the air.
Video shows that after a moment of shock she was able to pull the bird off her face.

Kiley Holman was struck by the gull while attending the birthday party of Georgia Reed, left. Photo / Robert Reed

"I didn't want to fall out of the ride so I waited for it to spin over once and then I quickly grabbed it and threw it off," Holman told NBC.

Reed's father saw the funny side of things. Uploading the video to YouTube, the amusement park bird strike quickly went viral.

"I would have died on the spot," commented one viewer.

"They're not after your French fries!" wrote another.

Neither the girl not the seagull were seriously harmed in the incident.

Holman said it was down to her ability to stay calm and wait until the top of the ride to disentangle the gull.

"The seagull just flew away," Kiley said. "The only thing that happened to me was a little tiny cut, that was all."

Visitors to the amusement park on Jersey Shore are used to close encounters with seagulls, swiping chips and pizza reported NJ news.

This seagull will think twice before swooping on oblivious tourists.

- With Associated Press