Birds among us: Perceptions of bird‐mediated services and disservices in a northern city

Birds can benefit people or cause harm. Understanding how people perceive birds in cities, where most daily interactions among people and nature occur, could inform decision‐making in support of biodiversity and human well‐being

We distributed a survey in a growing mid‐sized city (Lahti, Finland) to evaluate which bird‐mediated ecosystem services and disservices are perceived as most beneficial or harmful, and whether particular characteristics of humans and birds are associated with positive or negative attitudes towards birds.

We found that people felt more strongly that birds provided services than disservices and that women and older respondents were more uniform in their agreement that birds provide benefits.

Although people viewed birds as more beneficial than harmful, these perceptions were not uniform across bird species and traits. Bird body size was negatively, and human‐sensitive species was positively related to perceptions of birds. Large‐bodied human‐adapted species such as gulls and geese were perceived most negatively, and small‐bodied songbirds were viewed as most beneficial.

These findings suggest cities could enhance habitat for species viewed favourably (e.g. small‐bodied, human‐sensitive species) and mitigate against the most impactful bird‐mediated disservices (e.g. the spread of faeces, weeds and disease) to improve human–nature interactions where people live and work. Urban conservation efforts (e.g. policy and practice) should capitalize on the positive response to birds we identified across most demographic groups but also consider focusing on younger generations to address potential generational shifts in nature connection. Replicating this approach in other cities globally will be critical to understanding how cultural and biogeographical context attenuates perceptions of urban birds.