Chris et al, In India, at least those Black Kites (Milvus migrans govinda) that nested near my house or my office in Mumbai, preferred golden materials, especially those of fire cracker wrappers. And crows (Corvus splendens) preferred metal coat (ok clothes) hangers to sticks.
I guess where these guys studied the Black Kites did not have exotic colors available. I wonder what would happen if they were given different choice of colors would they show a gradient in their fitness. Meena Meena Haribal Boyce Thompson Institute Ithaca NY 14850 Phone 607-254-1258 http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ http://haribal.org/ http://haribal.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/wildwest+trip+August+2007+.pdf<http://www.geocities.com/asiootusloe/http:/www.geocities.com/asiootusloe/mothsofithaca.htmlhttp:/haribal.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/wildwest+trip+August+2007+.pdf> From: bounce-7677069-3493...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-7677069-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Chris Pelkie Sent: Friday, January 21, 2011 7:43 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Bird nest decorations Thanks for the eye-opener this AM Joe and Diana! I thought you were announcing a flamingo sighting in the Basin with your post title! (8-) OK, I'm awake now, so here's a contribution: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/bird-nest-messages/ is a quick overview of a recently published Science article on how black kites decorate nests with white plastic to show dominance. ______________________ Chris Pelkie Research Analyst Bioacoustics Research Program Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca, NY 14850 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
