title: Urbanization affects neophilia and risk-taking at bird-feeders.
abstract: Urban environments cover vast areas with a high density of humans and their dogs and cats causing problems for exploitation of new resources by wild animals. Such resources facilitate colonization by individuals with a high level of neophilia predicting that urban animals should show more neophilia than rural conspecifics. We provided bird-feeders across urban environments in 14 Polish cities and matched nearby rural habitats, testing whether the presence of a novel item (a brightly coloured green object made out of gum with a tuft of hair) differentially delayed arrival at feeders in rural compared to urban habitats. The presence of a novel object reduced the number of great tits Parus major, but also the total number of all species of birds although differentially so in urban compared to rural areas. That was the case independent of the potentially confounding effects of temperature, population density of birds, and the abundance of cats, dogs and pedestrians. The number of great tits and the total number of birds attending feeders increased in urban compared to rural areas independent of local population density of birds. This implies that urban birds have high levels of neophilia allowing them to readily exploit unpredictable resources in urban environments.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, PL-60-625 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tryjanowski
authors.affiliation: Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91405 Orsay Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Anders Pape
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Møller
authors.affiliation: Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Department of Applied Geoinformatics and Spatial Planning, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic.|Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Zielona Góra, Institute of Biotechnology and Environment Protection, Prof. Szafran St. 1, PL 65-516 Zielona Góra, Poland.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Morelli
authors.affiliation: High School of Civil Sciences, Zamojska 47, PL-20-1012 Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Waldemar
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Biaduń
authors.affiliation: Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology and Environment Protection, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Lwowska 1, PL-87-100 Toruń, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brauze
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Biodiversity, University of Agriculture, Al. 29-Listopada 46, PL-31-425 Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ciach
authors.affiliation: Institute for Administration and Tourism, State Higher Vocational School in Sulechów, Armii Krajowej Str. 51, PL-66-100 Sulechów, Poland.
authors.forename: Paweł
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Czechowski
authors.affiliation: Upper Silesian Ornithological Society, pl. Jana III Sobieskiego 2, PL-41-902 Bytom, Poland.
authors.forename: Stanisław
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Czyż
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology &Environmental Protection, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Plac Łódzki 3, PL-10-727 Olsztyn, Poland.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dulisz
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, Prusa 12, PL-08-110 Siedlce, Poland.
authors.forename: Artur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goławski
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Pomeranian University, Arciszewskiego 22b, PL-76-200 Słupsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hetmański
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology and Landscaping, University of Technology and Life Sciences, Ks. A. Kordeckiego 20, PL-85-225 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Indykiewicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Rzeszów, Zelwerowicza 4, PL-35-601 Rzeszów, Poland.
authors.forename: Cezary
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mitrus
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, PL-60-625 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Myczko
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology &Environmental Protection, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Plac Łódzki 3, PL-10-727 Olsztyn, Poland.
authors.forename: Jacek J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Nowakowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Protection and Management, Bialystok University of Technology, Wiejska 45a, PL-15-351 Białystok, Poland.
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Polakowski
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, PL-60-625 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Viktoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Takacs
authors.affiliation: Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Anthropology, University of Szczecin, Wąska 13, PL-71-412 Szczecin, Poland.
authors.forename: Dariusz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wysocki
authors.affiliation: Department of Avian Biology &Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89, PL-61-614 Poznań, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zduniak
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D002415:Cats; D002947:Cities; D004285:Dogs; D017753:Ecosystem; D005248:Feeding Methods; D006801:Humans; D011044:Poland; D011156:Population Density; D012306:Risk; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012424:Rural Population; D014507:Urbanization