Age, sex and individual identity are associated with the escape behaviour of Common Blackbirds ( <i>Turdus merula</i> ) in a European city

Flight initiation distance (FID) is commonly used to quantify risk taking and boldness by different animal taxa, including birds. Both the costs and benefits of escape are impacted by a complex interplay of factors with important consequences for the evolution of behavioural antipredator strategies. Here, we present the results of a long‐term longitudinal study of FID in an urban population of the Common Blackbird Turdus merula . The analysis of repeated FID measurements of the same individuals (within and across years) indicated that individual identity (or personality) is among the most important factors explaining escape behaviour in urban Blackbirds. Adult birds had higher FID than fledglings, and adult FID increased with age, reflecting a combination of within‐ and between‐individual effects. Adult males were bolder (had lower FID) than females. Adult FID also increased over the course of the season, with lowest FID during parental feeding and highest FID in the post‐reproductive period. Finally, we found support for the effects of past human disturbance on FID, as it decreased with the time from the last bird capture. Our results provide novel insights into the processes that shape the key personality trait (boldness) of birds from a highly transformed urban landscape.