Female hummingbirds avoid male bullies by looking like

Biologists say that some female hummingbirds know how to avoid the attention of aggressive males: girls grow feathers, making them look like boys.

Researcher studying decorations White-necked Jacobin Hummingbird It was found that females “retained feathers similar to males when they were young for social reasons-they avoid bullying by looking like them.”

Researchers at the Ornithology Laboratory at Cornell University also found that male-like females “eat longer than typical adult females-in feeders filled with high-sugar nectar, they eat about 35% longer.” Researchers say that hummingbirds have the highest metabolic rate of all vertebrates and require constant feeding to survive.

male Hummingbird There are often feathers that are shinier than women. But when females adopt a similar appearance, they receive much less attention from males, which makes it easier for them to eat without being harassed.

“The interesting thing about white-necked Jacobin is that all juveniles start with male-like feathers,” said Jay J. Falk, the lead author of the study. Contemporary biology August 26.

“In most other birds, the feathers of young birds look more like females, which is probably not obvious to predators,” Falk said.

Male hummingbirds tend to have bright colors and gorgeous feathers. Females are usually gray, black, and dark green, which helps them blend into their habitat.

The research team studied these birds in Panama and found that 20% of females do not shed male feathers like other birds, but keep them until adulthood.

Falk said that adopting a male-like appearance is not a reproductive strategy, because otherwise “males would be attracted to females with male feathers. This did not happen. Male white-necked Jacobins still showed a clear preference for the typical plume. Adult female.”

Falk and his assistant tagged the birds, studied their interactions around 28 bird feeders, and measured the time they took to feed.

“Our tests found that typical, less-colored females are much more harassed than females with male feathers,” Falk said. “Because male feathered females are less aggressive, they can eat more frequently-this is a clear advantage.”

It is not clear what physical mechanism allows some female birds to avoid changing their feathers during puberty.

Falk said the study found that out of the more than 350 species of hummingbirds in the world, 25% of females look like males.

This story is provided by Newsweek Zenger News.