As our population expands further into the reaches of animal habitats, scientists work to understand how and whether those animals can cope with human urbanization. One of the prevailing assumptions about migratory birds in cities was that they didnt do as well as their rural relatives because the threats were greater—more cats stealing eggs and killing fledglings. That turns out not to be the case, according to the results of a new study published by professors at Ohio State University. The culprit, they found, may be simply that the birds dont like living in cities.