[Warning: This post may contain graphic anthropomorphism.]
Do birds do good deeds? Silly idea?
Maybe not.
For whatever reason some birds do help others out. It’s pretty common. And it’s got biologists baffled.
Take Robins for example. A hawk might fly by and one will sound an alarm. That gives the others time to take cover. That of course may be dangerous to the individual but helps the flock survive. Seems altruistic on the surface. And why that particular bird? He may be the closest? But that would just put him at greater risk. So biologists wonder, how has the behavior survived evolution.
Some biologists answer that it really is altruism. Plain and simple.
That drives some of the others crazy.
So much so they came up with this beauty: the actual intent is to panic the flock. Not save them. That way the bird that squawks first has time to hide under a bush while others run around with their feathers on fire. So to speak.
But all that does is swap our heroic robin for a nasty stool pigeon. Not to mention it doesn’t make sense. If they were trying to find a way to explain it all with evolution, well.... Evolution should favor the survivor (in this case the dweeb.) Correct? So why don’t we see whole flocks of nasty little whistle-blowing Robins going off?
Here’s another seeming altruistic behavior. Some species do what’s called communal brooding. (In English that means birds helping raise young that aren’t theirs.)
Acorn Woodpeckers do this. They live in large communities and all help out. But most don’t get to breed. Only a select few. The rest spend their time pounding acorns into little round holes.
Acorn Woodpecker Acorn cache
Acorn Woodpecker
Bluebirds are communal-brooders too. A laying pair may have several helpers. Usually males from earlier broods (Earlier successful clutches) [Bird-nerd-words of the day: Double Clutch] , and a few unattached males.
No one’s sure why. They think it could have to do with the fact that bluebirds are monogamous (though with birds that can be a relative term). The theory is, broods from one season are all siblings.
Young Male Mountain Bluebird feeding fledgling
Male Mountain Bluebird
The more of their brothers and sisters survive the more likely the family genes are passed on. This might explain things in evolutionary terms. But the question remains. What do they get out of it? I’ll tell you what. Zilch. Nada. Nichts. In fact they could be sacrificing their chance to pass on their own genes later, in order to help the little clones pass on theirs. Altruism? Looks Kind of like it doesn’t it?
Besides, while we're on the subject, I see a hole in the whole theory. For this strategy to work, the gene pool needs to be pure.
And did I mention there are usually some unattached males of breeding age flying around “helping.”
The youngsters are too young to understand all this of course. But if they could, I have to wonder....
Would they be happy giving up some of their best years to perpetuate the genes of the next brood of baby birds. Only to find out they’re the milkman’s kids? So to speak. : )
Boring Fact: Many mammals and some 100 species of birds are known to practice some form of “altruism.”
