Nature-based activities, and the subsequent interactions with wildlife, have been rapidly growing in popularity over the last three decades. Despite the well-being benefits associated with such activities, serious concerns have been raised for public health and animal welfare. The main issue is the increased risk associated with disease transmission when people are closely interacting with wildlife. However, to date, little is known about how people interact with different wildlife species, in particular birds, and how they perceive potential risks associated with such interactions, especially as the recent pandemic might have influenced people's perception of risks related to wildlife. As the majority of new diseases in humans are thought to be from wildlife origin, it is urgent that we better understand human-wildlife interactions and the perceived associated health risks. The aim of this research is to investigate the multifaceted interactions between humans and birds during current health crises associated with avian influenza and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. The project will broadly assess human-bird interactions. However, a part of the project will focus on mute swans (Cygnus olor), as this species spreads worldwide, and the public commonly interacts with them, making mute swans an ideal study model to understand human-bird interactions, and associated health risks. Over a four-year period, the research will use an interdisciplinary approach combining methods from psychology and disease ecology to: (1) explore people's attitudes and practices towards birds and the health-associated risks, including highly pathogenic avian influenza and anti-microbial resistant (AMR) bacteria; (2) investigate how social media might influence public perception of animal health and welfare, which might influence their health risk perception; (3) assess the potential health risks to humans of interacting with birds by measuring the prevalence of exposure to avian influenza and AMR bacteria in two swan populations with different levels of interactions with people; (4) develop consistent and evidence based-policy around human-bird interactions and health risks in the UK. The project will be conducted as part of the Lincoln Swan project, which is currently developing some collaborations with leading governmental and non-governmental organisations in public health and ornithology. These partnerships will be key in ensuring the success of the research and dissemination of the findings from which evidence-based policy will be developed. This research will have a major impact on our understanding of people's attitudes and practices towards wildlife, and birds in particular, and the health-associated risks, which will contribute to preventing and managing future outbreaks of zoonotic diseases.