Now Don’t Feed the Birds, or They’ll Evolve!

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Bird feeding is popular across the UK. So popular, in fact, that some scientists say it’s “driving rapid evolution.”

Now, here’s what’s really happening. Scientists observed that birds in the UK have different shaped beaks from birds of the same species in the Netherlands. Bird feeding is much less popular for the Dutch. This beak shape seems to help these UK birds get seeds out of the feeders more effectively. So, birds that already had this variation were selected for.

But this isn’t evolution! Birds remain birds! The information for this beak shape was already there; nothing new was created. This is rapid adaptation—not evolution!

Dig Deeper

• Don’t Feed the Birds or They’ll Evolve
• Getting Enough Genetic Diversity