Latest news with #Ornithology
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists issue warning after tracking rapid shift in behavior of iconic migratory species: 'I started to investigate what was going on'
Populations of the lesser goldfinch, native to the American Southwest, are traveling northward, likely because of the changing climate and landscape modification, according to a Cornell University writeup published by While they have adapted well to their new habitats, their behavioral changes and invasions into ecosystems that are not native to them could be a cause for concern. A team of researchers from Washington State University and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology studied data to track the lesser goldfinch's movement. When lead writer Mason Maron visited Eastern Washington, Maron noticed flocks of 30-40 goldfinches fluttering around. Per he learned from locals that 10 years ago, there were no lesser goldfinches in the area. "So," Maron said, "I started to investigate what was going on." Maron and the team's study determined that lesser goldfinch populations increased by 110.5% in Washington, 66.3% in Idaho, and 16.9% in Oregon between 2012 and 2022, as stated in the journal Ornithology. "Our results are suggestive of this species being able to pretty rapidly colonize new environments," said co-author Jordan Boersma, per While the impressive way the lesser goldfinch has adapted to new habitats is indicative of its tenacity, it makes the species invasive. As the species eats the food available in their new environments, they disrupt the ecosystems they have invaded. This phenomenon is damaging to other members of the invaded ecosystem while also changing the moving species' behaviors. According to a research article by Florian Ruland and Jonathan Jeschke in the Journal of Animal Ecology, invasive animals in new habitats have to change their behaviors to thrive. The article said that when a species biologically invades an area, it must change its behavior to find food, evade predators, and adapt to new competition. The lesser goldfinch's adaptability is impressive, yet damaging, and the species should not have been left to make these life changes in the first place. Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. The birds are moving toward areas with higher maximum temperatures and rainfall in response to rising global temperatures. Controversially, some conservationists believe assisted migration, when humans intervene and relocate entire species to new areas, is a viable way to save them. Some states are on board with this belief, but many fear the consequences of introducing potential invaders to other habitats. So, the lesser goldfinch's move north into Eastern Washington to survive is a positive to some, but it could be dangerous. Results from the study on the lesser goldfinch, however, should give researchers more insight to the potential impacts of assisted migration as well as reason to conduct further studies. "Understanding how birds like the lesser goldfinch respond to climate change and urbanization helps us predict how other species might also be impacted," Boersma said. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
New York Times
14-02-2025
- Science
- New York Times
Hummingbirds Living in a Hive Found for the First Time
Hummingbirds are tiny and delicate, but don't be fooled: They are among the most aggressive birds in the avian kingdom. Their territorial fury is especially aimed at other hummingbirds. Competition over a patch of flowers or a mate often results in high-speed aerial chases, divebombing and beak jousting. So when Gustavo Cañas-Valle, an ornithologist and birding guide, stumbled across a cave full of hummingbirds nesting and roosting together in Ecuador's High Andes, he could hardly believe it. 'I thought, 'This looks like a colony,'' Mr. Cañas-Valle said. He added, 'They were like bees.' He documented 23 adult birds and four chicks,all of the subspecies Oreotrochilus chimborazo chimborazo, commonly known as the Chimborazo hillstar. Mr. Cañas-Valle's discovery, described in the journal Ornithology in November, may be the first documented example of hummingbirds that nested and roosted communally. It is also notable that he found the birds engaging in both these behaviors in the same space — something that even highly social species from other bird families tend not to do. Juan Luis Bouzat, an evolutionary geneticist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and another author of the study who is also Mr. Cañas-Valle's former graduate adviser, said the finding raised fascinating questions about the role environmental factors can play in driving group living and in promoting the evolution of certain social traits. Dr. Bouzat and Mr. Cañas-Valle at first hypothesized that harsh environmental conditions along the Chimborazo volcano where they found the nests had forced the birds together. The birds live more than 12,000 feet above sea level on a sparsely vegetated slope where it is hard to come by nectar-providing flowers, water or shelter from freezing temperatures and biting winds. 'Either you aggregate or perish,' Dr. Bouzat said. But this may not be the full story. Mr. Cañas-Valle explored the region and found six other examples of hummingbirds nesting and roosting together. He and Dr. Bouzat also surveyed concrete drainage pipes scattered around the area. The pipes had similar environmental conditions to the cave but could fit only one or two nests. The researchers found that just 45 percent of the pipes were occupied by nesting females — significantly lower than the frequency expected by chance, according to computer simulations the authors conducted. There were significantly more nests found in groups, on the other hand, than there would have been if randomly predicted. Of the 74 total nests Mr. Cañas-Valle documented, 82 percent were part of groups. Taken together, these findings implied that the birds were actively choosing group living over nesting alone. Dr. Bouzat suspects that environmental factors originally caused the birds to aggregate but that once they bunched together, they evolved traits that made them more social, helping them adapt to their environment. 'I was very surprised to read about a truly colonial hummingbird, because most are aggressive and intolerant of others of the same species,' said Scott Robinson, an ornithologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History who was not involved in the work. 'No one would have considered a hummingbird a candidate for coloniality.' Charles Brown, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Tulsa who also was not involved in the research, said he was not convinced, however, that the hummingbirds observed in the study actually qualified as being colonial. Animals that live in true colonies often behave in ways that benefit their neighbors, Dr. Brown said, such as working together to find food or detect predators. While it was interesting to find hummingbirds in close quarters, 'there was no evidence of any social behavior on the part of the animals nesting in these clusters,' he said. Mr. Cañas-Valle pointed out, however, that he observed the hummingbirds from the cave departing and returning together, suggesting a cohesive social group. 'It's not that each one is doing their own thing,' Dr. Bouzat said. But the authors agree that more research is needed. They hope to conduct behavioral studies to determine if the hummingbirds are merely tolerating each other or are actively cooperating. They would also like to conduct surveys for other hummingbird species in similar High Andes environments to see if they are engaging in group living, too. 'I'm sure there are other unknown caves in the mountains where hummingbirds live,' Mr. Cañas-Valle said. 'I'm expecting to find other species, for sure.'
