Bird Feeders Have Caused a Dramatic Evolution of California Hummingbirds (science.org) 28
Science magazine reports that hummingbird feeders "have become a major evolutionary force," according to research published this week in Global Change Biology. (At least for the Anna's hummingbird, a common species in the western U.S.
Over just a few generations, their beaks have dramatically changed in size and shape.... [A]s feeders proliferated, Anna's hummingbird beaks got longer and larger, which may reflect an adaptation to slurp up far more nectar than flowers can naturally provide. Developing a bigger beak to access feeders "is like having a large spoon to eat with," says senior author Alejandro Rico-Guevara, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Washington. This change was more pronounced in areas where feeders were dense. But in birds that lived in colder regions north of the species' historical range, the researchers spotted the opposite trend: Their beaks became shorter and smaller. This finding also makes sense: The researchers used an infrared camera to show for the first time that hummingbirds use their beaks to thermoregulate, by dissipating heat while they are perched. A smaller beak has less surface area — and would therefore help conserve heat...
The most surprising finding, though, was how quickly these changes took place. By the 1950s, hummingbirds were noticeably different from those of the 1930s: a time span of only about 10 generations of birds, Alexandre says.
Carleton University animal behaviorist Roslyn Dakin (who wasn't involved with the study) says the new paper beautifully shows "evolution in action" — and adds nuance to our conception of humans as an evolutionary force. "I think we're going to find more and more examples of contemporary and subtle changes, that we're shaping, indirectly, in many more species."
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader sciencehabit for sharing the article.
The most surprising finding, though, was how quickly these changes took place. By the 1950s, hummingbirds were noticeably different from those of the 1930s: a time span of only about 10 generations of birds, Alexandre says.
Carleton University animal behaviorist Roslyn Dakin (who wasn't involved with the study) says the new paper beautifully shows "evolution in action" — and adds nuance to our conception of humans as an evolutionary force. "I think we're going to find more and more examples of contemporary and subtle changes, that we're shaping, indirectly, in many more species."
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader sciencehabit for sharing the article.
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Hummingbird feeders are caused by global warming?
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Hummingbird feeders are caused by global warming?
Non-sequitur of the month.
Re: Deer wandering cities (Score:1)
Do you think the environment would be a lot happier without the cancer of humanity? If your town were wiped off the face of the earth, would the deer adapt?
Can I do a manual sig: I am a nonviolent antinatalist seeking by words and example alone to persuade you all not to have kids?
OT: Manual sig Re: Deer wandering cities (Score:1)
Can I do a manual sig: I am a nonviolent antinatalist seeking by words and example alone to persuade you all not to have kids?
If this was what you intended to write, your manual sig attempt succeeded. If not, then proceed to troubleshoot it.
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Humanity doesn't have to be a cancer, we simply choose to be.
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A couple of things you didn't mention is that my yard is now a minefi
Re: Deer wandering cities (Score:2)
Here in the UK all the big predators have gone and so the feral deer stay in the countryside but like where you are they eat everything. No young trees are safe and they effectively Hoover the forest floors. Also some farmers crops are fair game too.
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Re: Deer wandering cities (Score:1)
Why do you want to control plants so much that you are willing to use climate change as an excuse?
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That isn't evolution, that is capitalism at work. There is money to be made from deer hunting. So the departments of natural resources explicitly manage deer herds to best sustain herd size for hunters. In many places, people purposely manage land to attract deer by planting food crops for them.
In Minnesota, deer collisions with cars do hundreds of millions of dollars of damage every year. But the sizes of the herds along major transportation routes are managed for hunting. If wolves take a cow, the DNR pa
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Ideal herd size is about 1/3 where it's at today in any of the Great Lakes states. And for revenue, the DNR ought to double the price for buck tags and halve the price for doe tags. Healthy bucks that survive because of their fitness instead of bad luck running into a hunter, fewer does means lower deer population, and less TB, etc. Hunters have not had problems finding deer for decades now, most people are able to use all the tags they get.
Farmers where I grew up used to take deer all the time, in some (mo
Re: Deer wandering cities (Score:1)
Don't we overproduce hay, corn, soy and ship it overseas? How much of the deer problem is really a you problem?
Training Humans (Score:3)
Each Spring when I'm outside a female will buzz up to me and dart around me for a bit until I go grab the feeder and fill it up.
Not aggressively but they'll remind me too if I'm busy and am outside another day.
Impressively they return to their same summer areas each year with amazing precision. Usually when the tulips bloom so I keep an eye out once the daffodils are done.
Re: Training Humans (Score:1)
Ever seen them year after year at a remote campsite, still curious but not asking you to feed them?
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Yes! I've been approached by hummingbirds in the wilderness on more than one occasion. I also feed them, and have experienced the "Hi! we're here!" buzz when they first arrive, even though I usually have the feeders out several days before they arrive by monitoring the hummingbird migration map, but they are curious and seemingly interested in us for reasons other than sugar water. I usually get a "See you next year!" buzz before they leave in September too. I've observed them observing me while gardeni
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Re: Training Humans (Score:1)
Does it seem like each bird has a unique personality? Why are they so much better personalities than most hu-mans?
uh, yeah (Score:3)
contemporary and subtle changes, that we're shaping, indirectly, in many more species
We are the sixth mass extinction event
Trickle down effect..? (Score:3)
Wonder how this trickles down - okay, so we know hummingbirds are changing, but what does that mean for the plant/flower species that evolved along with them, and originally lead to their beaks being that way?
Curious what's going to happen to those plants (presumably the hummingbirds won't be able to feed and pollinate them as they had), and what's down the line from that?
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Curious what's going to happen to those plants (presumably the hummingbirds won't be able to feed and pollinate them as they had)
Why would their beak becoming longer prevent them from putting it into a flower?
10 generations (Score:3)
An evolutionary change from selective pressure becoming evident over 10 generations seems to be a recurring theme. The silver fox, for example, was domesticated in about 10 generations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]