Tag: nests

Among the thorny acacia trees in the Kalahari Desert, white-browed sparrow weavers are diligently constructing intricate roosts and nests. These social birds create a variety of woven structures, each unique in shape, ratio, and size, within their small territories. Maria Tello-Ramos, a biologist from St. Andrews University, observed these birds building different styles of roosts and nests within close proximity to each other. This led her to investigate the reasons behind this architectural diversity, eventually leading to a study published in the journal Science. The research suggests that the variations in structures are a result of cultural transmission among the sparrow weavers, rather than genetic factors. Living in groups of up to 14 birds, the sparrow weavers exhibit a complex social structure where offspring help their parents in building and rearing young. Each group has its own distinct building style, which new members quickly adopt, indicating a form of cultural learning among the birds. Fig. 2. Variation among the structures built by different groups. (A) Images of structures built by three different groups of white-browed sparrow weavers. The two rulers show the difference in size between the structures built by the different groups. (B) Mean ± S.E. of PC1 and PC2 scores from the seven measures taken for the structures at each of 43 groups (one dot per group). The seven measures were length of entrance and exit tube and width, total length, diameters of entrance and exit hole, and the angle between the entrance and exit tube. Length of entrance and exit explain most of the variation in PC1 (53%), and the diameter of the entrance hole and the width of the structure explain most of the variation in PC2 (50.7%). We have included two photographs of structures built by two different groups; there are two rulers next to each structure for scale. Credit: Maria C. Tello-Ramos, et al. This unique behavior challenges traditional explanations for nest variations in birds and highlights the importance of social learning and cultural transmission in avian species. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind this cultural behavior and its implications for other bird species.

Tag: nests

Birds have ‘culture.’ Just look at these nests.

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