Exeter Study Finds 61 Bowerbirds Shift Courtship Displays Toward Human-Made Items in Urban Australia
Updated
Updated · Ars Technica · Jun 3
Exeter Study Finds 61 Bowerbirds Shift Courtship Displays Toward Human-Made Items in Urban Australia
3 articles · Updated · Ars Technica · Jun 3
Summary
A Royal Society Open Science paper found urbanization is reshaping male great bowerbirds’ courtship displays, with clear differences between decorations used at urban and rural bowers in northern Queensland.
Researchers tracked 61 males during the September-December 2023 breeding season and found birds in both settings strongly preferred human-made objects, suggesting urban males use more of them largely because they are easier to obtain.
At Dreghorn Cattle Station and in Townsville City, the team photographed bower decorations in visible and UV light, then focused on the 10 items nearest each entrance because those were most likely to feature in displays to females.
They then removed all decorations and offered mixed piles built from 10 urban and 10 rural bowers—excluding each male’s own items—to test how birds reselected display objects under controlled conditions.