Pinker flamingos more aggressive

Date: June 7, 2020

Source: University of Exeter

Bright pink flamingos are more aggressive than paler rivals when fighting over food, new research shows.

Pink plumage is a sign of good health in lesser flamingos, and a flush of colour often means they are ready to breed.

So when the birds squabble over food, the pinkest flamingos -- both male and female -- tend to push the others around.

The study, by the University of Exeter and WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre, also found the birds fight more when food is available in a small area such as a bowl -- so the findings suggest captive birds should be fed over a wide space where possible.

"Flamingos live in large groups with complex social structures," said Dr Paul Rose, of the University of Exeter.

"Colour plays an important role in this. The colour comes from carotenoids in their food, which for lesser flamingos is mostly algae that they filter from the water.

"A healthy flamingo that is an efficient feeder -- demonstrated by its colourful feathers -- will have more time and energy to be aggressive and dominant when feeding."

Dr Rose studied the behaviour of Slimbridge's lesser flamingos in different feeding situations: at an indoor feeding bowl, a larger indoor feeding pool, and outdoors with food available in a large pool.

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Bold and aggressive behaviour means birds thrive in cities

Monday, April 16, 2018, 16:30 - Most people probably wouldn’t consider bustling towns and cities good places for nature to thrive. Yet a few species of birds have so successfully adapted to city living that they boast large and thriving urban populations. Now, research has suggested that the success of these city-dwelling species may lie in their behaviour.

Urban habitats are quite different to the natural environments in which birds evolved. Cities are noisy places, they are lit almost continually with artificial lights and they contain an abundance of food. Cities are also full of people. This means birds living there rarely get any peace and must cope with almost constant disturbance from both humans and their pets.

But birds living in cities are known to be much more tolerant of human disturbance than their rural compatriots. In a study of 44 European bird species, all but four allowed humans to approach them more closely in cities than in rural habitats. This suggests that city birds are bolder in the face of a potential threat.

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'Loved-up' pheasant leaves behind his bullying ways

The male bird had been attacking 'everyone and everything' on a farm in Cambridge - until he found a female partner

ANTONIA MOLLOY

Saturday 31 May 2014

They say that love conquers all – and that was certainly the case for a “terrorist” pheasant causing chaos at a farm in Cambridgeshire.

The male bird, who was once prone to chasing “just about everyone and everything”, has changed his ways after catching the love bug, according to his owner.

Anne-Marie Hamilton told the BBC that the pheasant turned up at Wood Farm, in Hail Weston, in March and proceeded to attack her, the dog, visitors and vehicles.

“He has pretty much had a go at everyone and was becoming a real pain,” she said.

But then something rather lovely happened.

Ms Hamilton told the broadcaster: “We were seriously thinking how to get rid of him, but last week he turned up with a hen pheasant.

"We've been terrorist-free for three days and I think it's her influence."

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Discovery of mechanism by which sex hormone regulates aggressive behavior in male birds

Date: January 29, 2014

Source: Waseda University

Summary: Researchers have discovered a hormonal mechanism for controlling aggressiveness in male birds. The team hope this may lead to a method of reducing aggressive behavior in humans.

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N.Z. Officials Urge Hunt for ‘Angry Birds’ in Auckland Skies

New Zealand officials are urging Auckland residents more familiar with “Angry Birds” on their mobile phones to try spotting the real thing in the nation’s biggest city.

A number of aggressive red-vented bulbuls are on the loose in the wider Auckland area and the Ministry for Primary Industries is asking the public to help track them down. In a press releaseheadlined “Angry Birds Still at Large in Auckland,” the ministry warns that the species is a threat to native vegetation and birdlife and must be eradicated.

“The red-vented bulbul is aggressive to other birds and is regarded as one of the world’s most invasive bird species,” said Jaap Knegtmans, a response manager at the ministry. “While the bulbuls may appear cute, they’re anything but and urgent action is required to locate and capture them before they establish.”

The birds, originally from China and Pakistan and considered good luck in some Asian communities, may have arrived on a commercial vessel or a recreational yacht from elsewhere in the Pacific, Knegtmans said in an interview. Unobtrusive when alone, in numbers the bulbuls tend to bully other birds and compete with them for food and space, he said.

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Birds vs. bees

BY PATTI ROTH

SPECIAL TO THE MIAMI HERALD

That buzz you might hear among some South Florida bird enthusiasts is about bees — reports that Africanized honey bees, known for their aggressive behavior, are taking over birds’ nesting sites.

In most cases, the bees moved into empty tree hollows or bird houses before birds had a chance to. But there are isolated reports of bees driving out birds that already occupied the nests and stinging baby birds to death, scientists say.

Richard Raid, a University of Florida professor, set up 400 nesting boxes for barn owls in the Everglades Agriculture Area. Over several years, bees established hives in about 50 of them, including at least one that was occupied by barn owl chicks. Raid assumes the babies were stung by the bees. “There’s just hundreds of them flying in and out of the box,” he said. “They totally displaced the owls. The adults never returned.”

In Coral Gables, bees set up housekeeping in several nesting boxes at the home of Daria Feinstein, a member of the Tropical Audubon Society. One of the shelters housed baby mynah birds. Feinstein describes the sight of the bees descending on the nest as something like a scene from a horror movie.

The problem is also attracting attention in other parts of the world, such as Guatemala, where habitat for scarlet macaws is threatened.

“It’s an underrated problem,” said Janice Boyd, an adjunct associate professor at Texas A&M University, whose work focuses on parrots. “In Guatemala, a high percentage of known nesting sites (for scarlet macaws) are taken over by Africanized bees.”

Two doctoral students at the University of Florida are working with Raid on a research project based in the Everglades Agricultural Area in western Palm Beach County, where Raid set up the barn owl boxes as a form of rodent control.

The entomology students are sharing their techniques with the Bird Lovers Club, a non-profit bird education and advocacy organization with members in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The club is putting up nesting shelters in a wetlands conservation area in Pembroke Pines and possibly other sites for spring nesting season. Cub Scouts from Pembroke Pines and Boy Scouts from Plantation built some of the boxes.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/09/3272515/birds-vs-bees.html#storylink=cpy