In her doctoral thesis, Anna Haukka developed an indicator for the aesthetic value of birds, investigating its links to avian features and the trade of bird species. In addition, she investigated the local relationships between birds and humans in Finland through changes in feeding practices.
Haukka’s research contributes to the knowledge that human values and actions significantly affect wildlife. At times, species that are aesthetically pleasing to humans can receive more attention and, consequently, become targets of protective measures, but they are also more vulnerable to trade-related threats. Local changes in birds’ winter feeding demonstrate that people wanting to see different kinds of birds affects the number of feeding sites.
Aesthetic value of birds
Haukka created an indicator that, for the first time, makes it possible to assess the attractiveness of all bird species to humans. According to Haukka’s research, while birds of considerably different appearance make it to the top of the most attractive species, on average it is those with the brightest and rarest colours that are considered the most attractive of all. These colours include the blue of Eurasian kingfishers and the red of robins. The small size of birds as well as various aesthetic traits, such as tail length and crests, also make a difference to their attractiveness. Of large birds, owls in particular score high for their attractiveness.
“Of all the birds in the world, several hummingbird species are among the most aesthetically pleasing. They are small in size and have been proven to have the most dazzling colours of all birds. The rarity of colour is one of the strongest predictors of attractiveness in general,” says Doctoral Researcher Haukka from the Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki.
Effects of aesthetic value on bird species trade
Attractive birds are more susceptible to being targeted by the wildlife trade. This applies particularly to the trade in live birds, where aesthetic values can predict future trends.
“Globally, just over a thousand bird species are already threatened because of trade or other direct use. Understanding the effect of aesthetic value on the threat of being subjected to trade helps to establish measures to prevent endangerment,” says Haukka.
Appearance similar to currently traded species can help predict which species will be sought after in trade down the line. This pertains in particular to the trade of live birds, most of which are sold as pets or for display for other cultural reasons. This study is the first to investigate the matter on a scale broad enough to include all bird groups. Besides parrots and other colourful birds, many birds of prey, such as owls of brown shades, are attractive and sought after in the animal trade.
Local relationships with birds vary around the world
People’s relationships with birds vary by region. In Finland, for example, bright-coloured goldfinches are admired at bird-feeding sites, while in the southern Mediterranean they may be caught as cage birds in addition to being marvelled at in the wild.
Haukka’s research emphasises that understanding interaction between humans and other species is key to the development of sustainable conservation measures. Such understanding reduces the impact of human preference on the selection of ecologically effective conservation means and also helps to draw attention to species that are, on average, less aesthetically pleasing.
“Human impact on the wild species and ecosystems of Earth is enormous. Research-based knowledge on people’s perceptions, values and actions as well as their effects on species helps to increase the sustainability of our actions and prevent biodiversity loss,” Haukka sums up.
Doctoral thesis
Anna Haukka's doctoral thesis is available via Helda repository.
Data on the attractiveness of birds was collected through an online survey, entitled 'iratebirds’, in which participants assessed bird appearance on a scale of 1 to 10. With data collected internationally, a database comprising the values of over 400,000 scores was created with an indicator of aesthetic value associated with appearance for all bird species in the world. The data have already been used, among other things, to investigate the links between the bird trade, the funding of bird conservation, and the aesthetic value of birds.