Sparrows are less cautious around humans with face masks

In a new study published in Global Ecology and Conservation, researchers in China found that Eurasian tree sparrows show reduced fear responses to people wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. during the study, researchers approached the sparrows and recorded how close the humans could get before the birds took flight. They found that the birds let people wearing masks get closer to them than people without them on. Researchers speculate that continuous exposure to people wearing face masks may have produced rapid adaptive behavioral changes in the birds.