City birds seem to like men more; scientists unsure why
What's the story
A recent study has revealed that urban birds in Europe seem to prefer men over women. The research, published in the journal People and Nature, examined 37 different species across five European countries. It found that these birds were more likely to flee from women than men when approached by humans. This behavior suggests that the avian creatures can distinguish between male and female humans.
Research methodology
How the study was conducted
The researchers measured each bird's fearfulness by observing how close a person could get before it flew away. This standard measure, called flight initiation distance, was used to study 37 species of birds in cities across the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland, and Spain. Some species, like pigeons, were more tolerant of human behavior, while others, like magpies, were more skittish and fled earlier.
Findings
What does the research show?
In a controlled experiment, a man and woman of similar height and dress tried to approach a bird in an urban green space. The distance was measured after the bird fled. Out of 2,701 observations made between April and July 2023, it was found that men could get about three feet (1 meter) closer to the birds than women on average.
Speculations
Possible reasons why birds are more comfortable with men
"I fully believe our results...but I can't explain them right now," study co-author Daniel Blumstein, an Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor at UCLA said. The researchers have proposed several theories to explain why city birds flee faster from women. These include factors like pheromones, body shape, or gait. They also noted that they didn't have any female participants collect data while menstruating, when certain scent compounds in a woman's body odor intensify, which could be another avenue for future research.