Latest news with #animalBehavior
New York Times
03-07-2025
- Science
- New York Times
How a Parasitic Bird With No Parents Learns What Species It Is
In P.D. Eastman's classic picture book 'Are You My Mother?' a baby bird hatches alone and goes on a quest. It asks a cow, a dog, and even an excavator whether they might be its mother. Finally, the chick and its true mom reunite. In nature, cowbirds also hatch without their parents present. Cowbird mothers leave their eggs behind in the nests of different species. Yet to grow up safely, the birds must join other cowbirds in flocks. They somehow need to learn what species they belong to. Earlier research hinted that brown-headed cowbird chicks might reconnect with their parents. But a paper published Thursday in the journal Animal Behaviour found no evidence of a happy reunion. Instead, cowbird chicks learned who they were by hanging out with unrelated adult females. Brown-headed cowbirds are what scientists call brood parasites. That means parents don't raise their own young. Mothers sneakily lay eggs in other birds' nests, and oblivious host parents rear the young brood parasite alongside their own offspring. (Chicks of the common cuckoo, another brood parasite, kill their foster siblings by shoving them over the side of the nest.) Unlike most birds, a young brood parasite doesn't get attached to its host parents. You can see this if you rear cowbirds by hand, said Mark Hauber, a comparative psychologist at CUNY Graduate Center in New York: 'They start hating you at some point.' If a cowbird imprinted on a family of yellow warblers, say, and sought out warblers' company as an adult, it would never find a mate and reproduce. Beyond mating, 'There's tons of different benefits to knowing what kind of bird you are,' said Mac Chamberlain, an ornithologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who works with Dr. Hauber. For example, cowbirds flock together, roost together and learn from each other where to find food. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CTV News
24-06-2025
- CTV News
Black bear street brawl caught on camera in Burnaby
Vancouver Watch What looked like an intense fight brought traffic to a standstill in Burnaby. The heated exchange wasn't between two people, but two black bears.
CTV News
24-06-2025
- CTV News
Black bears fighting caught on camera
Vancouver Watch What looked like an intense fight brought traffic to a standstill in Burnaby. The heated exchange wasn't between two people, but two black bears.
The Sun
10-06-2025
- Science
- The Sun
Huge number of horses' facial expressions revealed as scientists discover equine ‘language'
HORSES have their own 'language' with more than 800 facial expressions, scientists have found. Researchers set out to unravel the mystery of the creatures' long faces and find how they exhibit a range of emotions. Aberystwyth University observed horses when they were friendly, angry or tense, attentive and playful. They then analysed individual muscle movements, created a list of facial expressions among horses and matched them to moods of other animals. During friendly interactions, horses pointed their ears forward and extended their nose. To show dominance, they flattened their ears, dilated their nostrils and lowered their heads. When horses were alert, scientists noticed they put their ears forward and increased blinking. 'Play faces' resembled primates and dogs — as horses opened their mouths, raised chins and had visible eye whites. Lead researcher Dr Sebastian McBride said: 'We found horses use a wide range of facial movements, which vary depending on the social context. "What's particularly fascinating is some of these facial behaviours, especially during play, mirror those seen in chimpanzees and dogs, supporting the hypothesis facial behaviours may be deep rooted in mammalian biology.' Scientists indentified the AUH21 'facial tightener' movement, previously only seen in humans and gibbons. It could help vets detect pain in horses. The research team also said the study would change how we interact with horses, 'leading to better care and stronger human-animal relationships'. 1
The Independent
05-06-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Chimpanzees are aping robots and scientists are scratching their heads
A new study reveals that chimpanzees can "catch" yawns from an android robot that imitates human facial expressions. Researchers found that chimpanzees yawned and lay down in response to yawns made by the android robot, suggesting that observing another individual yawn may act as a cue to rest. The study involved exposing 14 adult chimpanzees to an android head that simulated facial expressions, including yawns, gaping, and neutral expressions. Eight of the 14 chimpanzees yawned in response to the android's "yawn" expression, with the highest contagion occurring when the android displayed a fully wide-open mouth. The findings shed light on primates' susceptibility to contagiously induced behaviours, but the exact biological mechanisms surrounding contagious yawning remain unclear, prompting further research.
