Urban birds like pigeons, sparrows, and magpies are more scared of women than men, but scientists can’t figure out why.
In a recently published study, researchers found that birds were able to identify someone’s gender and will allow men to get an average of one metre closer before taking flight.
The findings, which were consistent across the 37 bird species studied, have been published in the British Ecological Society journal. Scientists now hope to figure out what makes women scarier than men.
Professor Daniel Blumstein, a co-author of the study, from the University of California, said: “I fully believe our results, that urban birds react differently based on the sex of the person approaching them, but I can’t explain them right now.”
The study was conducted across Czechia, France, Germany, Poland and Spain, and contained 2,701 observations.
It involved male and female participants, who were matched in height and clothing, walking in a straight line towards birds in urban parks and green spaces. Other birds included great tits, blackbirds, starlings, and woodpeckers.
Overall, women were able to get an average of 8.5 metres away from a bird before it took flight, while men were able to get to 7.5 metres.
“This is maybe the most interesting part of our study”, said Dr Federico Morelli, another co-author, from the University of Turin. “We have identified a phenomenon, but we really don’t know why. However, what our results do highlight is the birds’ sophisticated ability to evaluate their environment.”
The scientists found that urban birds were able to recognise the sex of the humans approaching them, but it is unclear what traits the birds were identifying.
They have speculated that they could be detecting people’s pheromones, body shape or gait, but say more research is needed.
Co-author Dr Yanina Benedetti, from the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, said: “As a woman in the field, I was surprised that birds reacted to us differently. This study highlights how animals in cities ‘see’ humans, which has implications for urban ecology and equality in science. Many behavioural studies assume that a human observer is neutral, but this wasn’t the case for urban birds in our study.
“Urban birds clearly react to subtle cues that humans do not easily notice. Follow-up studies could focus on individual factors such as movement patterns, scent cues, or physical traits, testing them separately rather than grouping them under observer sex. This approach would help identify the specific cues birds detect.”