GREAT tits living in urban areas are bolder and more aggressive at defending their territory than their rural counterparts according to research published in Scientific Reports.

Scientists at Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences examined how birds adjust their behaviours in response to human-driven habitat changes such as urbanisation.

Dr Sam Hardman evaluated behavioural differences in territorial aggression in urban and rural male great tits (parus major) as part of a PhD at Aberystwyth University. His aim was to test if urban and rural birds exhibited differences in “personality”.

Dr Hardman said: “At this time of year males establish territories for the breeding season and they defend these aggressively against intruding males of the same species.

“We simulated a territorial intruder by playing back recordings of great tit song from a loudspeaker in the centre of the territory, and monitored the resident birds’ responses to defend that territory.”

The study took place in March and April 2015 in great tit territories in the centres of Leicester and Derby, and in undeveloped rural areas in the surrounding countryside.

The responses measured included territorial singing and how quickly and closely the birds approached the perceived intruder.

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