The impacts of urbanization on bird biodiversity depend on human-environment interactions that drive land management. Although a commonly studied group, less attention has been given to public perceptions of birds close to home, which can capture people's direct, everyday experiences with urban biodiversity. Here, we used ecological and social survey data collected in the metropolitan region of Phoenix, Arizona, USA, to determine how species traits are related to people's perceptions of local bird communities. We used a trait-based approach to classify birds by attributes that may influence human-bird interactions, including color, size, foraging strata, diet, song, and cultural niche space based on popularity and geographic specificity. Our classification scheme using hierarchical clustering identified four trait categories, labeled as Metropolitan (gray, loud, seedeaters foraging low to ground), Familiar (yellow/brown generalist species commonly present in suburban areas), Distinctive (species with distinguishing appearance and song), and Hummingbird (hummingbird species, small and colorful). Strongly held beliefs about positive or negative traits were also more consistent than ambivalent ones. The belief that birds were colorful and unique to the regional desert environment was particularly important in fortifying perceptions. People largely perceived hummingbird species and birds with distinctive traits positively. Similarly, urban-dwelling birds from the metropolitan trait group were related to negative perceptions, probably due to human-wildlife conflict. Differences arose across sociodemographics (including income, age, education, and Hispanic/Latinx identity), but explained a relatively low amount of variation in perceptions compared with the bird traits present in the neighborhood. Our results highlight how distinctive aesthetics, especially color and song, as well as traits related to foraging and diet drive perceptions. Increasing people's direct experiences with iconic species tied to the region and species with distinguishing attributes has the potential to improve public perceptions and strengthen support for broader conservation initiatives in and beyond urban ecosystems.

中文翻译：

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物种特征解释了公众对人鸟互动的看法。

城市化对鸟类生物多样性的影响取决于推动土地管理的人类与环境的相互作用。虽然这是一个经常被研究的群体，但很少有人关注公众对家附近鸟类的看法，这可以捕捉人们对城市生物多样性的直接、日常体验。在这里，我们使用在美国亚利桑那州凤凰城大都市区收集的生态和社会调查数据来确定物种特征与人们对当地鸟类群落的看法之间的关系。我们使用基于特征的方法根据可能影响人与鸟类相互作用的属性对鸟类进行分类，包括颜色、大小、觅食层、饮食、歌曲和基于受欢迎程度和地理特异性的文化生态位空间。我们使用层次聚类的分类方案确定了四个特征类别，标记为大都会（灰色、响亮、低地觅食的食籽鸟）、熟悉（黄色/棕色通才物种通常出现在郊区）、独特（具有独特外观和歌曲的物种）和蜂鸟（蜂鸟物种，小而多彩）。对积极或消极特征的坚定信念也比矛盾的信念更一致。相信鸟类色彩缤纷并且是区域沙漠环境所独有的信念对于强化感知尤为重要。人们大多对蜂鸟物种和具有鲜明特征的鸟类持积极态度。同样，来自大都市特征组的城市鸟类与负面看法有关，这可能是由于人类与野生动物的冲突。社会人口统计学（包括收入、年龄、教育和西班牙裔/拉丁裔身份）之间存在差异，但与附近存在的鸟类特征相比，解释了相对较少的感知变化。我们的结果突出了独特的美学，尤其是颜色和歌曲，以及与觅食和饮食相关的特征如何驱动感知。增加人们对与该地区相关的标志性物种和具有独特属性的物种的直接体验，有可能提高公众的认知，并加强对城市生态系统内外更广泛的保护举措的支持。