How Prozac can prevent birds mating
MOST drugs carry side-effects, with some more unusual than others.
But the rise of antidepressants could have the most bizarre consequences of all – ruining the sex lives of birds.
Experts have warned that the pills could even threaten the future of songbirds by reducing their ability to attract males.
Female starlings who were exposed to Prozac after eating worms contaminated with the drug at sewage plants are less attractive to males, a study found.
The males sing less to these birds, and are more likely to attack them.
The NHS handed out 64.7million prescriptions for antidepressants in 2016 – twice as many as in 2006. Traces of the pills end up in the natural environment as they pass through our bodies.
The drugs can stay in soil for many months, being picked up worms, maggots and flies. Concerns had previously been raised about Prozac making female starlings less receptive to mates by causing them to be more lethargic and even making their plumage more dull.
To test the theory, a team at the University of york gave female starlings waxworms contaminated with concentrations of Prozac similar to those at sewage works. After pairing them with males for two days, they found that males sang less than twice as often and for a shorter time to those exposed to the drug.
They were also more aggressive, pecking and clawing the females, the study published in journal Chemosphere found.
Co-author Dr Kathryn Arnold said this disruption ‘is important because animals that are slow to find a mate often won’t get to breed’. With many species in decline, she said more needed to be done to remove chemical contaminants.