A new study published in the journal People and Nature shows that many bird species living in urban areas in Europe tend to be more wary of women than men.
The study was conducted in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the Czech Republic on 37 common bird species in urban areas.
An international group of scientists, led by scientist Federico Morelli, discovered that birds often allow men to approach closer by about 1 meter before flying away or running away.
Ms. Yanina Benedetti - a scientist involved in the study said that she was surprised to see different bird species react differently depending on the gender of the approacher.
During the research, scientists tried to minimize differences between participants. Each time the experiment had a male and a female of equivalent height, wearing clothes of the same color and moving with the same approach towards the bird.
The research team conducted more than 2,000 exposures to species such as sparrows, crows, swallows, eagles or ducks.
According to scientist Federico Morelli, it is noteworthy that this phenomenon appears in many different bird species, not just a specific group.
However, scientists say they have not yet been able to explain the exact cause.
One hypothesis is that birds can recognize very subtle signals from humans such as their movement, body characteristics, or even body odor.
Recent studies show that many birds have more developed sense of smell than they previously thought. Therefore, the possibility that they recognize odor differences between males and females is being further considered by scientists.
The research team believes that this finding may help better understand how animals adapt and react to humans in urban environments.
