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Birds Warned of Food Shortages by Neighbor Birds Change Physiology and Behavior to Prepare

posted by mrpg on Sunday July 03 2022, @01:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the little-birdie-told-me dept.

upstart writes:

Birds warned of food shortages by neighbor birds change physiology and behavior to prepare:

Songbirds learning from nearby birds that food supplies might be growing short respond by changing their physiology as well as their behavior, research by the Oregon State University College of Science shows.

After receiving social information from food-restricted neighbors for three days, the red crossbills in the study raised their pace of consumption, increased their gut mass and maintained the size of the muscle responsible for flight when their own eating opportunities were subsequently limited to two short feeding periods per day.

Findings of the study by OSU's Jamie Cornelius, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggest that birds can use social information about food shortages to effect an adaptive advantage for survival.

Journal Reference:
Advance social information allows red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) to better conserve body mass and intestinal mass during food stress, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0516)

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by khallow on Sunday July 03 2022, @03:01PM (5 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday July 03 2022, @03:01PM (#1257762) Journal
    I think this is expected to surprising since birds don't have the Facebook technology to inform them of upcoming toilet paper shortages.
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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Sunday July 03 2022, @09:21PM (4 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Sunday July 03 2022, @09:21PM (#1257846) Journal

    Birds don't use Facebook. They use Twitter.

    --
    Is there a chemotherapy treatment for excessively low blood alcohol level?

    • (Score: 2, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 03 2022, @10:26PM (3 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday July 03 2022, @10:26PM (#1257868) Homepage Journal

      Birds don't use toilet paper, either. They use cars.

      --
      Hail to the Nibbler in Chief.

      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday July 04 2022, @12:06AM (2 children)

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 04 2022, @12:06AM (#1257893) Journal

        They also use people's hair.

        --
        Is there a chemotherapy treatment for excessively low blood alcohol level?

        • (Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Monday July 04 2022, @12:13AM (1 child)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 04 2022, @12:13AM (#1257895) Homepage Journal

          You sound as if you've been victimized. Show us on the doll . . .

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          Hail to the Nibbler in Chief.

          • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday July 04 2022, @07:37PM

            by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 04 2022, @07:37PM (#1258076) Journal

            I probably have been targeted by a bird at some point in my life. I have no specific memory.

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            Is there a chemotherapy treatment for excessively low blood alcohol level?