Young herring gulls peck on a red spot on their mother's beak in order to get her to feed them. if the mother's red spot is covered experimentally with paint, the chicks won't peck. this begging behavior is:

This suggests that the behaviour is instinctive, so it's an "instinct" or "fixed action pattern" as some researchers call it - it means that the animal is not aware of the action's results, but that this behaviour is programmed in - the young will start pecking as soon as they see the red spot.