Journal
JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY
Volume 51, Issue 9, Pages -Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/jav.02341
Keywords
animal communication; antimicrobial capacity; antimicrobial defences; innate humoral immunity; sexual selection in females; Sturnus unicolor
Categories
Funding
- Dept of Animal and Plant Sciences at the Univ. of Sheffield
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Anthropogenic noise can adversely impact urban bird populations by interfering with vocal communication. Less research has addressed if anthropogenic noise masks the adventitious sounds that birds use to aid predator detection, which may lead to increased vigilance and reduced feeding efficiency. We test this hypothesis using a controlled playback experiment along an urban-rural gradient in Sheffield (UK). We also test the related predictions that anthropogenic noise has the greatest impacts on vigilance and feeding efficiency in rural populations, and on species that are more sensitive to urbanisation. We focus on six passerines, in order from most to least urbanised (based on how urbanisation influences population densities): blue titCyanistes caeruleus, robinErithacus rubeculla, great titParus major, chaffinchFringilla coelebs, coal titPeriparus aterand nuthatchSitta europaea. We used play-back of anthropogenic urban noise and a control treatment at 46 feeding stations located along the urban-rural gradient. We assess impacts on willingness to visit feeders, feeding and vigilance rates. Exposure to anthropogenic noise reduced visit rates to supplementary feeding stations, reduced feeding rates and increased vigilance. Birds at more urban sites exhibit less marked treatment induced reductions in feeding rates, suggesting that urban populations may be partially habituated or adapted to noisy environments. There was no evidence, however, that more urbanised species were less sensitive to the impacts of noise on any response variable. Our results support the adventitious sound masking hypothesis. Urban noise may thus interfere with the ability of birds to detect predators, reducing their willingness to use food rich environments and increase vigilance rates resulting in reduced feeding rates. These adverse impacts may compromise the quality of otherwise suitable foraging habitats in noisy urban areas. They are likely to be widespread as they arise in a range of species including common urban birds.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available