Unexpected guest spotted on Vatican roof shocks audience amid wait for conclave smoke signal

The world continues to watch on as the group of cardinals carry on the voting process in their efforts to choose a new Catholic leader following the passing of Pope Francis on Easter Monday (21 April).

The latest update from the Vatican saw black smoke emerging once again from the chimney earlier today (8 May), indicating that there is still no pope elected with all eyes still remaining fixed on that rooftop.

Given the amount of people looking on at the chimney, it was only inevitable that crowds would quickly be able to spot a very unexpected guest spotted on the Sistine Chapel roof which has left spectators well and truly shocked.

Yep, you guessed, it.

The guest in question was not a human but actually a bird - well, a seagull if you're being specific.

Naturally, the sighting of the seagull simply watching on during the major historical world event sent the internet into a right spiral with many rushing to social media to share their reactions.

One X user penned: "This seagull on the roof of the Sistine Chapel just casually waiting for the smoke to come out of the chimney lmao the only highlight of the conclave."

"After one day, it's pretty clear who the people's choice is for the papacy," joked a second, while a third chimed in: "Seagull just be chilling before a world historic event. Will go down in history."

A seagull has stolen the show at the Vatican (FILIPPO MONTEFORTE / Contributor / Getty Images)

A fourth quipped: "Our #Conclave distraction… seagull family on our roof in Rome."

After seeing that the seagull had seemingly brought along his family for the historical occasion, a fifth penned: "Local seagull family with the best seats in the house...and an audience of millions."

"THE SEAGULL BABY OMGGG!" gushed a sixth, while another beamed: "The baby! It’s a family event!"

And a final X user jokingly pretended to be the little fluffy critter that's captured the hearts of every onlooker: "'Mom, it's just a boring old chimney. Can we PLEASE go to McDonald's now??'"

Our #Conclave distraction … seagull family on our roof in Rome pic.twitter.com/5bwbtBaU0t

— Alastair Bruce (@AlastairBruce_) May 7, 2025

Interestingly, this isn't the first time seagulls have made an appearance during a papal conclave. Back in 2013 during the conclave that elected Pope Francis, a seagull appeared in several livestream shots of the Sistine Chapel chimney.

Up to four rounds of voting can take place each full day of conclave, two in the morning and two in the afternoon - however, smoke is only expected up to twice a day, as ballots from two successive rounds are generally burned together if no pope is chosen in either round.

A new pope requires a two-thirds majority in the voting or 89 votes out of the 133 cardinal electors gathering to elect the 267th Bishop of Rome.

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