--- title: "Birds Are Getting Hooked on Cigarettes" description: "Some species of birds are getting hooked on cigarettes, scientists have found — but not for the reason you might think." date: "2026-03-21" modified: "2026-03-21" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/science-energy/birds-cigarettes-nest" categories: - "Environment" - "Science & Energy" --- # Birds Are Getting Hooked on Cigarettes ![Some species of birds are getting hooked on cigarettes, scientists have found — but not for the reason you might think.]() *Getty / Futurism* Nicotine, the highly addictive chemical compound in cigarettes, is having a bit of a resurgence as of late — with patches of the stuff even [appearing in vending machines at tech company offices](), offering overworked staffers a way to get through the day. Even some species of birds are getting hooked on cigarettes — but not for the reason you might think. Instead of suffering from a debilitating nicotine addiction, blue tits across Europe are hoarding cigarette butts to ward off parasites using the natural and artificial toxins in tobacco and cigarette butts, as the [*New York Times* reports](). It's a bizarre evolutionary outcome resulting from an otherwise ecologically damaging side effect of our collective smoking addiction. As detailed in a [new paper]() published in the journal *Animal Behavior*, a team of researchers at the University of Lodz in Poland suggests that volatile compounds from the cigarette remains being brought into Eurasian blue tit nests could be helping them to "avoid parasites and their effects." In a series of experiments, the researchers "tested whether the inclusion of cigarette butts in nests, or replacing a natural nest with a sterilized, artificial, moss and cotton wool nest on the fifth and tenth day of the nestling period," affects the birds' physiological health when compared to a control group. Fascinatingly, both the inclusion of cigarette butts and the provision of sterilized nesting materials resulted in broods that "had significantly elevated hemoglobin and \[red blood cell concentration\], indicating improved physiological condition compared to the control group." Parasites, including ticks, mites, and fleas, were more common in more natural control nests that didn't include foreign material. Besides bringing in intact cigarette butts, Autonomous National University of Mexico ecologist Constantino Macías García told the *NYT* that he and his colleagues had observed finches and sparrows in Mexico City "dismember the cigarette." The fibers inside, he suggested, may protect chicks from parasites. Cigarette ingredients may also be capable of warding off invasive vampire flies in Darwin's finches' nests in the Galápagos, [research has shown](). It's a fascinating trend, with scientists [finding in a 2017 study]() that house finch females responded to researchers placing more live ticks in their nests by placing even more cigarette butts, indicating it's an established reaction to a heightened risk of parasitic infection among some birds. Nonetheless, the ecological impacts of discarded cigarette butts continue to be "[unignorable]()." Trillions of them are discarded every year, in a flood of plastic polymers that are [highly resistant to environmental degradation]() and which leach chemicals into the natural environment. **More on birds:** [*Man Trains Crows to Attack MAGA Hats*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()