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Posted: 11th April 2025

Colourful birds thrive in cities, study finds
The blue-faced honeyeater has successfully colonised urban areas in Australia.
Urbanisation has caused a decline in biodiversity.

Research has revealed that colourful birds are more likely to thrive in urbanised areas than birds with brown plumage.

The study, which examined the abundance of different plumages in each environment, found that brown-coloured birds were more commonly found in natural settings.

Plumage plays a vital role in the way that many birds live and interact. This includes thermoregulation, camouflage, competitive or mating.

Previous research had theorised that colour diversity would be lower among urban birds. This latest research sought to better understand how urban environments affect colouration of animals.

Researchers, from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence and the University of Granada, used a global dataset to examine the abundance of over 1200 bird species living in different levels of urbanisation. This information was examined against data on the birds' plumage colour.

The findings showed that, despite lower numbers of birds in cities, the birds which were thriving had more colourful plumages, whereas brown birds were more likely to be found in natural environments.

The researchers believe that brown birds are at a disadvantage in the 'grey' setting of a city. The colouring of urbanised areas, as well as a lack of habitats, also impacted the bird species which were successful.

Bird species which were more populous in cities also tended to have more elaborate colours, especially the females.

Cities seemed to draw more colourful birds, perhaps due to a lack of natural predators. This means that the birds' visibility would pose a lower risk to their safety than in rural areas.

Juan Diego Ibáñez-Álamo, first author of the study, said: “There are fewer species in urban areas than in rural areas. When we take this into account, the bird communities in cities actually have greater colour diversity”.

The full study can be found in the journal Ecology Letters.

Image © Shutterstock



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