In the first study of its kind, scientists have discovered that masturbation in birds isn’t harmful – challenging current assumptions of how captive birds are treated when displaying the behaviour.
Led by Chloe Heys (a senior lecturer at the University of Lancashire’s School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences), the study’s authors combined a review of scientific literature with data from bird keepers and breeders via surveys and online communities.
Data on both captive and wild birds was collected, with 120 bird species across 22 major bird groups studied.
Bird owners are usually told to discourage this sexual behaviour in their pets, with veterinary intervention sometimes recommended.
However, the findings, published in Ecology and Evolution, suggest that this behaviour is widespread in bird species and serves an evolutionary purpose.
The study also found that masturbation is more prevalent in wild birds and those which are reared by their parents (rather than humans).
Both males and females display this behaviour, although there are differences between the sexes: 55 per cent of male records involved masturbation, in contrast to 36 per cent in females. The researchers found no difference in occurrence between juveniles and adults.
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Avian evolution
The team found a clear link between the likelihood of masturbation in a bird species and its mating system: the behaviour was more common in species with multiple mates.
This challenges the sexual outlet hypothesis, as this predicts that individuals wouldn’t masturbate when they have access to a mate.
While the researchers stress that further research is needed, masturbation could form part of courtship behaviour in birds – but has just been lost in certain clades.
The scientists suggest that female masturbation could serve an evolutionary purpose of increasing the likelihood of siring offspring.
Despite the popular belief that birds mate for life, true sexual monogamy is the exception rather than the rule – with the females of many wild bird species having sneak copulations with other males.
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This evolutionary conserved behaviour could then pass down to captive birds, even when it’s not necessary.
The scientists stress that many of the theories used to explain the occurrence of masturbation in animals focus on males, with little attention paid to females – despite the results of their study demonstrating that it occurs readily in both sexes.
The team also hope that the results will help improve the care and welfare of captive birds.
“Despite assumptions that masturbation among captive birds like parrots is a result of their often-solitary living, our study finds that it is natural, healthy and widespread across diverse bird species, even in different environments,” explains Heys.
