Shyer and larger bird species show more reduced fear of humans when living in urban environments

As the natural habitats of many species are degraded or disappear, there is scope for these species to be established in urban habitats. To ease the establishment and maintenance of urban populations of more species we need to better understand what degree of phenotypical change to expect as differe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biology letters (2005) 2018-04, Vol.14 (4), p.20170730-20170730
Main Author: delBarco-Trillo, Javier
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Behaviour
Animals
Behavior, Animal - physiology
Birds
Birds - anatomy & histology
Birds - classification
Birds - physiology
Body Mass
Body Size
Colonization
Ecosystem
Flight Initiation Distance
Phylogeny
Populations
Rural populations
Species
Species Specificity
Urban Ecology
Urban environments
Urban Population
Urban populations
Urbanization
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Summary:As the natural habitats of many species are degraded or disappear, there is scope for these species to be established in urban habitats. To ease the establishment and maintenance of urban populations of more species we need to better understand what degree of phenotypical change to expect as different species transition into urban environments. During the first stages of urban colonization, behavioural changes such as an increase in boldness are particularly important. A consistent response in urban populations is to decrease the distance at which individuals flee from an approaching human (flight initiation distance, or FID). Performing a phylogenetic generalized least-squares (PGLS) analysis on 130 avian species, I found that the largest changes in FID between rural and urban populations occur in species that are larger-bodied and naturally shy (higher rural FID), two phenotypic traits that are not normally associated with urban colonizers. More unlikely species may thus be able to colonize urban environments, especially if we design cities in ways that promote such urban colonizations.
ISSN:1744-9561
1744-957X
DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2017.0730