Conventional farming has been implicated in global biodiversity loss, with many farmland birds in decline. Organic farming is often considered a more ecological alternative since it generally hosts greater faunal diversity. To date, the impact of conventional agriculture on the decline in avian species has mainly been assessed through the lens of biodiversity loss; few studies have examined the effects of conventional farming on individual life-history trait components. Behaviour represents the final integrated outcome of a range of biochemical and physiological pathways and can be considered a proxy of health as it is more sensitive than other life-history traits, potentially allowing environmental changes to be better tracked. The goal of this study was to understand how exposure to conventional versus organic farming affects the behaviour of passerine birds in real conditions. By sampling 6 species of passerine birds in 10 hedgerows in organic landscapes and 10 hedgerows in conventional landscapes during the breeding period, we found evidence that organic farming sharply increased the vitality of individuals, irrespective of species. This was measured through behaviour such as flee attempts, aggressivity, pecking and distress calls when captured, all of which were higher in birds caught in organic hedges than those caught in conventional landscapes. We posit that passerines living in organically farmed landscapes benefit from reduced pesticide exposure rather than a greater abundance of food, as body condition was identical in the two contexts. These findings suggest that the behaviour of passerines can be a useful indicator of the state of the environment and can thus serve as an early warning of specific environmental change in agricultural areas. Further studies assessing the life-history traits of farmland birds may be a valuable aid to understanding the impact of conventional agriculture on biodiversity.

传统农业与全球生物多样性丧失有关，许多农田鸟类数量下降。有机农业通常被认为是一种更生态的选择，因为它通常拥有更多的动物多样性。迄今为止，传统农业对鸟类物种减少的影响主要是从生物多样性丧失的角度来评估的；很少有研究检查传统农业对个体生活史特征成分的影响。行为代表了一系列生化和生理途径的最终综合结果，可以被认为是健康的代表，因为它比其他生活史特征更敏感，有可能更好地跟踪环境变化。本研究的目的是了解如何接触传统与有机农业会影响雀形目鸟类在真实条件下的行为。通过在繁殖期间对有机景观中的 10 个树篱和常规景观中的 10 个树篱中的 6 种雀形目鸟类进行采样，我们发现有证据表明有机农业大大增加了个体的活力，而与物种无关。这是通过捕捉时的逃跑尝试、攻击性、啄食和求救信号等行为来衡量的，在有机树篱中捕获的鸟类的所有这些行为都高于在传统景观中捕获的鸟类。我们假设生活在有机耕作景观中的雀形目动物受益于减少农药暴露而不是更多的食物，因为在这两种情况下身体状况是相同的。这些发现表明雀形目动物的行为可以作为环境状况的有用指标，因此可以作为农业地区特定环境变化的早期预警。进一步研究评估农田鸟类的生活史特征可能有助于了解传统农业对生物多样性的影响。