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Behavior of Birds Depends On Their Hatching Order

Posted by samzenpus on from the eldest-bird-of-an-eldest-bird dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A new study looks at the behavior of birds and found the hatching order of birds influences how they behave in adulthood. The study was conducted by Dr. Ian Hartley and Dr. Mark Mainwaring (LEC), researchers at the University of Lancaster Environment Center. The researchers noticed that the youngest members of the zebra finch broods were more adventurous than their older siblings in later life."

10 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Anedotal evidence suggests same for humans... by Fusselwurm · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... or is that just me and the people I know?

    1. Re:Anedotal evidence suggests same for humans... by dkleinsc · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That's been an open question in psychology for over a century. There's some evidence for it, and some against it, and nobody has any kind of conclusive proof one way or the other.

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    2. Re:Anedotal evidence suggests same for humans... by Intrepid+imaginaut · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Birds are not humans. Dogs are not humans. Fish are not humans. Even monkeys are not humans. Please stop drawing parallels between humans, who exist in highly complex constantly changing societal structures and often do things for entirely non-immediately-intuitive reasons, and other types of creatures. These comparisons rarely have much grounding in reality, since intelligence is a phenomenon unto itself.

    3. Re:Anedotal evidence suggests same for humans... by invid · · Score: 2

      Intelligence is a matter of degree. Human intelligence does not negate our evolutionary origins. Our intelligence has a common origin with other animal intelligence, and it can illuminate the nature of our intelligence to study other animals.

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      The Moore-Murphy Law: The number of things that will go wrong will double every 2 years.
    4. Re:Anedotal evidence suggests same for humans... by Intrepid+imaginaut · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Human intelligence does not negate our evolutionary origins.

      Oh, yes it does. We can fly higher, move faster, prolong our lives and do any number of things that our evolutionary origins would preclude. In fact we can do almost anything any animal can do, except better, and a great deal more besides, by using that intelligence. Intelligence is the ultimate evolutionary advantage, to the extent that it steps outside the commonly perceived framework of evolution and creates its own framework.

      That's not to say it's not evolution, rather that it's a different form of evolution, whereby capability is derived from generation upon generation of accumulated knowledge without changing the raw biological underpinnings much. This knowledge in turn informs behaviour, which is what we're talking about. We can learn a lot about animals by studying animals, but trying to then somehow lay this onto human behaviour patterns is an exercise in futility at best.

      Short version, instinct and intelligence are wildly different things, and humans are far more creatures of the latter than the former.

    5. Re:Anedotal evidence suggests same for humans... by NatasRevol · · Score: 2

      Are you seriously saying that animals besides humans don't "exist in highly complex constantly changing societal structures and often do things for entirely non-immediately-intuitive reasons"

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      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    6. Re:Anedotal evidence suggests same for humans... by invid · · Score: 2

      If you are motivated by love, or motivated by fear, or motivated by curiosity, then you are a pawn of evolution.

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      The Moore-Murphy Law: The number of things that will go wrong will double every 2 years.
    7. Re:Anedotal evidence suggests same for humans... by Dr.+Evil · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Months of difference make a difference in sports and the classroom. Why shouldn't years of difference make a difference among siblings?

      http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/03/05/f-birth-month-sports-learning-health.html

      A 2011 study of B.C. students who entered kindergarten in 1995 found that compared to those born in January, kids with December birthdays were 12 to 15 per cent less likely to meet reading and numeracy standards in the elementary grades and 12 per cent less likely to graduate.

      In Britain, the school cutoff date is Aug. 31, which means kids learn with classmates born in September of the previous year. In a 2011 study, researchers at Britain’s Institute for Fiscal Studies reported that kids born in August have less confidence in their academic abilities and are less likely to attend top universities.

    8. Re:Anedotal evidence suggests same for humans... by 19thNervousBreakdown · · Score: 2

      Line A is not line B. They're not even the same length! And yet, they're parallel. If you know A1(x, y) A2(x, y) B1(x, y), you can determine the x for any y on line B.

      Dogs protect their offspring, humans protect their offspring for much the same reasons. You absolutely can draw parallels for a huge number of behaviors between humans and other animals. Just because exceptions exist (line B isn't as long as line A, so there is no corresponding x coordinate to y+40), doesn't mean you should discard your reasoning and intuitive facilities completely.

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  2. Theft by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 5, Funny

    I reckon scientists would see some really interesting behaviour if they got a bunch of pigs to steal the eggs before they hatch.

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    Summation 2