Several animals, especially avians, have successfully adapted to live in cities. The urbanized environment affects these birds both in behavioral, and morphological aspects as stated in several journal articles I’ve read. I have been wondering what would happen to a certain population of birds if their urban environment is lost or if they are reintroduced to the wild after generations of adaptive progress in relation to the urban environment. A lot of articles talk about how wild animals adapt to urban areas, but so far I have not found any regarding the opposite. Considering that most animals raised in captivity don't fare very well in the wild where they are left to their own resources, would these birds exhibit a similar pattern? Would it be different since they are a ‘wild’ urban species and technically not raised in captivity? In what ways would the loss of an urban habitat most likely affect the avian species?
The urban 'wild' avians have the privilege of urban shelter and food safety. Easy access to these resources at urban area may deprive the avians of competitive potential, which is the key to survival in the wild 'wild'.
Thank you for your insight. The competitive potential of urbanized birds is indeed lost because they've adapted to such environmental conditions. One such example is the Passer montanus Linnaeus 1758 which has adapted by foraging in city walkways and garbage areas for food (Gonzales 2006) and would most likely be displaced or outcompeted in the wild. So I guess the implication of losing this urban habitat is simply the dying out of that certain population, yes? But theoretically, would there be a decent chance for them to sort of 're-adapt' (morphologically and/or behaviorally) to the wild or will their lack of competitive ability prevent this early on?
For a comparaison of urban and rural bird population you can make a research on the web with the key words : Faivre, Turdus merula. B. Faivre compare the level of contamination (lead intoxication...) and infestation by tics of this species (in France) in the two situation.
Note that the question of loss of urban areas is not frequent, and that the trend is generally to a dramatic increase.
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