Noise in urban areas could be increasing the mortality rate among young house sparrows, a study has suggested.
Researchers say the noise could stop adult birds hearing the hunger calls from their dependent offspring.
In their study, the team found that birds nesting in noisy
areas were less effective at feeding their chicks as those that nested
in quieter places.
The findings have been published in the journal Plos One.
Scientists from the University of Sheffield reached their
conclusion after carrying out a study on Lundy, a 445-hectare
(1,100-acre) island located 19km (12mi) off the North Devon coast.
Co-author Julia Schroeder explained that the project happened more-or-less by chance.
"When I first went to the island, which is very remote and
quiet - apart from gulls and shearwaters - I entered a barn and it was
very loud," she recalled.
The barn contained an electricity generator, yet sparrows
were still choosing to nest in the building, so Dr Schroeder wondered
whether the conditions affected the songbirds.
"I found that there was a reduced fitness - a reduced
reproductive output from the nest boxes located in the noisy area," she
told BBC News.
So she decided to test her findings against classic hypotheses on how noise could affect birds.
"The main hypothesis regarding breeding output is that it affects mate choice decisions," she explained.
