Male birds whose choice of singing posts puts them within reach of predators are also more likely to attract mates, say European scientists.

Females prefer risk takers, who "are likely of superior quality and harbour good genes for the offspring," according to researchers at the University of Antwerp in Belgium and Eötvös University in Hungary.

In a study to be published in the online journal PLoS ONE on Wednesday, the researchers detailed how they recorded the songs of 24 male European collared flycatcher birds and characterized several song features.

Bird song has a well-established role in sexual selection and displays considerable variation from bird to bird. Scientists also suspect bird song reveals personality traits, such as a tendency to take risks.

For example, singing may reveal risk taking, because conspicuous songs attract not only the interest of females but also the attention of predators.

That means only high-quality individuals can afford to display attractive songs, because they are well-equipped to evade predators, even as they put themselves in harm's way.

The researchers suggest males singing at low song posts — relative to the surrounding vegetation — were especially successful in finding mates because they were seen by females as explorers and risk takers.