Urban Birds Smarter, Healthier than Rural Birds

City-slicker birds may have an intellectual wing up on their country counterparts, according to a new study out of McGill University.

In a paper appearing now in the journal Behavioral Ecology, researchers present findings that show cognitive differences between urban-dwelling birds and those that live in more rural areas.

The birds in question were bullfinches (Loxigilla barbadensis) from both rural and urbanized settings on the Caribbean island of Barbados.

The researchers put the birds through two general kinds of tests: those assessing associative learning and those presenting problems to be solved, the latter considered more helpful to birds in their daily lives.

For problem-solving, the birds were rated for their ability in such areas as pulling open drawers to obtain food. You can see some of that avian acumen in action in the accompanying video, as an urbanized bird works out the best way to draw out some tasty treats.

And the results? “We found that not only were birds from urbanized areas better at innovative problem-solving tasks than bullfinches from rural environments, but that, surprisingly, urban birds also had a better immunity than rural birds,” said lead author Jean-Nicolas Audet in a statement.

The healthier immune system finding countered an assumption the scientists had made.

“Since urban birds were better at problem-solving,” said Audet, “we expected that there would be a trade-off, and that the immunity would be lower, just because we assumed that you can’t be good at everything. In fact, both traits are costly. It seems that in this case, the urban birds have it all.”

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