Rural robins driven mad by traffic noises

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The fiercely territorial bird relies on visual and acoustic signals to mark its patch and deter rivals. It changes behaviour if threatened.

City robins accept temporary increases in noise levels and learn to sit them out. But researchers think rural birds compensate with more physical aggression.

Scientists at Anglia Ruskin University and from Turkey’s Koc University measured aggression towards intruders, using a 3D model of a robin.

The dummy was accompanied by recorded robin song while traffic noise was added via another speaker. Urban male robins typically displayed more physical aggression than rural ones.

But their country cousins became more hostile when road sound was added.

Scientists believe displays of territoriality rise as traffic noise drowns out robins’ signalling using song. These include swaying and showing red feathers on their neck, as well as trying to chase away intruders.

Dr Caglar Akcay, senior lecturer of behavioural ecology at Anglia Ruskin, said: “Additional traffic noise leads to rural robins becoming more physically aggressive…because the noise is interfering with their communication.”

The study is in the journal Behavioural Ecology And Sociobiology.

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