#parrot ethology

[woodsfae]

Ellie, an 11-year-old Goffin’s cockatoo, video chats with a friend.

Once the birds had learned how to initiate video interactions, the second phase of the experiment could begin. In this “open call” period, the 15 participating birds could make calls freely; they also got to choose which bird to dial up. Over the next two months, pet parrots made 147 deliberate video calls to other birds. Their owners took detailed notes about the calls and recorded more than 1,000 hours of video footage that the researchers analyzed.

For starters, they found that the parrots took advantage of the opportunity to call one another, and they typically stayed on the call for the maximum time allowed during the experiment. They also seemed to understand that another live bird was on the other side of the screen, not a recorded bird, researchers say. Some of the parrots learned new skills from their virtual companions, including flying, foraging and how to make new sounds.

Excerpt from the Smithsonian

[rayhantochtli]

Meet me!

A couple details i forgot: i actually use glasses irl and have a tattoo of 2 grackles on my left arm

[selenealwayscries]

This is Zedaph propaganda . go watch Zedaph

[1arkspur]

I want to make my own Safari in Louisiana, with elephants, chimpanzees, lyrebirds, and I also want to have a swimming with dolphins place, bc the Safari should be on the coastline with the Mexican Gulf waters.

It will be a breeding program 2.

It will be a lot of acreage.

And they will forage in the wilderness.

And there will also be virtual reality entertainment,

and they will learn the alphabet,

they will spell in English with fingers and trunk.

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/own-zoo-36859.html

^^^^^

DIS ME GUYS, THAT WEBSITE IMPLICATES ME

IM GONNA OPEN A FUCKING ZOO GUYS (a safari but yeah)!

[wildhumansociety-blog]

What Would Life be Like as a Parrot?

(A Couple of Amazon Parrots - Photograph by Pablo Rodriguez Merkel)

“You’re a bird brain”. The infamous insult could never be so inaccurate. With the power of research, several scientists have proven birds’ intelligence. Some are even smarter than our closest relatives, the chimpanzees. Birds are evolutionarily the oldest animals around. They are descendants of the dinosaurs, and have come a long way. Of course, not all birds are created equal. Though birds in general are pretty smart, scientists agree that corvids (includes crows, ravens, and jays) and parrots are the most intelligent of the bunch. Birds’ brains are also similarly proportioned to primates’, but have more connectivity between the sections of the brain. With new studies and books coming out every year, we are learning more and more about how birds think and why they act the way they do. You just have to wonder, what would life be like as one of these majestic creatures?

Parrots are gregarious birds. Traveling in large flocks, they begin each day at sunrise and come to sleep at dusk. The amazon parrot for example, mates for life, yet still lives in a flock. There are many evolutionary reasons for this behavior; the type of fruits and nuts amazon parrots feed off are found in a scattered fashion, so it would be an advantage to have more sets of eyes to find more food sources. Another plus to living in a flock is having the strength in numbers to protect themselves from predators. With many members, parrots can vocalize a warning before the predator even has a chance to strike. Human society isn’t too different, is it? If it weren’t for any technological advancement, we’d probably be living just like these amazon parrots.

Another similarity in behavior parrots share with humans is courting, mating, and raising young. During the mating seasons, both sexes, but moreso the males, will become very agressive. Though they will fiercely defend nesting sites, they rarely harm each other. I do not believe that humans these days would spare each other physical fights like parrots.

In the beginning of courtship, two parrots will “bow” to each other and spend gradually more and more time together. During resting periods and at night, a parrot couple will preen each other and sleep in close proximity. As mating season approaches, they will scope out a nesting hole and start sleeping outside of it. The male will also start to regurgitate food for his mate, as she will soon be incubating the eggs and will not be able to leave the nest. A feeding is usually followed by copulation. This feeding behavior would be pretty understandable behavior coming from a human couple. While a female is pregnant, she wouldn’t exactly be housebound, but she wouldn’t be able to travel far. Her mate would provide for the family by bringing her food, and by human needs, resources to prepare for their unborn child.

Many tropical birds lay two to three eggs, (another similarity to human breeding habits!). In raising their young, the male parrot will also regurgitate food for the chicks as well as his mate. At first the mother will stay with the chicks, but then she’ll start to leave to forage. After fully fledging, young parrots will begin to integrate into the adult flock. If people parented their kids like parrots, their children would leave their parents at sexualmaturity in search of their own mate. Another interesting fact I’ve found is that scientists were puzzled as to how parrots could tell if another was male or female. It turn out, parrots (and many other birds) can see wavelengths of light that humans cannot. The female and male parrots could tell each other apart because one sex would have a slightly different wavelength to their feathers. Though I don’t think this would be a problem for humans, seeing as how most of our genitalia is external.

Then the circle of life revolves again. I think it’d be great if people lived like parrots. Unlike people, they don’t have political views or time to squabble over things like religion and money. If you think about it, pretty many other animals don’t have the luxury of extra time to think and wonder like humans do. But animals do have the luxury of not having to deal with all the conflicts that come with this extra time. I believe that this is one of many ways that demonstrates how we must stay in balance with nature, so we can learn from it. No matter how many twists and turns our ways of life will change, we must remember where we came from, because that’s exactly where will go back to after life.

~R

[raptorsandpoultry]

Feather destructive behaviour in parrots

(I’m sure everyone on birblr knows all about FDB, but I wrote this up for one of my vet med school assignments and thought I’d share since I haven’t posted in a while because of finals!)

Feather destructive behaviour, also known as “feather-plucking” or “feather-picking”, is a common problem in which captive parrots chew on, damage, and/or pull out their own feathers. Affected areas usually include the neck and breast regions, but can involve feathers on any body part that the parrot can reach with its beak. If left unchecked, parrots may also progress to mutilating their skin. This compromises the ability of a parrot to regulate their body temperature, which can lead to skin infections or other severe secondary problems.

Feather destructive behaviour is generally caused by medical or behavioural factors. Medical causes are most often related to skin and feather health, but can include other physical illnesses related to an inappropriate diet, poisoning, or infection. To rule out any of these causes, veterinarians perform comprehensive physical examinations and laboratory diagnostics to test the parrot’s blood and droppings. If the results of the exam and testing are unable to suggest a clear medical cause, then behavioural causes must be considered. With behavioural causes, stress often lies at the root of feather destructive behaviour, and can be caused by boredom, sleep deprivation, sexual frustration, or anything else in the environment that the parrot perceives to be persistently distressing.

Boredom, or a lack of physical and mental stimulation, can be attributed to a lack in number or variety of appropriate toys that encourage natural parrot behaviours. It is ideal to provide multiple toys within the cage and to rotate them on a weekly basis to ensure that a parrot stays interested and does not get tired of them. Alternatively, removing a toy that the parrot is especially attached to can also be stressful. Toys that encourage foraging behaviour (i.e., hiding pellets or treats) allow the parrot to work for its food and keep it occupied for longer periods. Foraging decreases the chances that a parrot will spend its spare time biting and chewing at its feathers. Owners can even opt to slowly switch from feeding their parrot all of its daily food in a bowl to hiding it inside foraging toys. Another form of mental stimulation for parrots includes training. Parrots are very intelligent and can be taught many different “tricks” and behaviours. Training sessions are another opportunity for a parrot to keep itself busy and figure out alternative ways of obtaining food.

A lack of social interaction, either with the parrot’s favourite human(s) or another bird, can also be a contributing factor in feather destructive behaviour. If a parrot must be left alone in its cage for hours at a time (i.e., while the owner is away at work), leaving the television or radio on at a quiet volume may help keep it stimulated and entertained. For parrots that are especially bonded to their owners, voice recordings or video clips may be helpful. Giving the parrot a view by putting its cage by a window may also provide some stimulation, as long as it is placed in a low-traffic area (salespeople knocking on doors, squirrels climbing onto windowsills, etc. can spook some birds). Other sources of stress include other pets, especially those that parrots may perceive as predator animals (i.e., cats and dogs), excessive noise, seasonal changes, sudden changes within the home, unwanted attention from strangers and/or children, and jealousy due to the owner giving more attention to a partner, family member, etc.

Sometimes, owners may sexually frustrate their parrots without realizing it. Mirrors are not an appropriate toy for birds, as some may not be able to understand that their reflection is not real and will try to obsessively court and mate with it, which can result in the bird becoming frustrated when the reflection does not reciprocate. Owners should also be mindful when petting or scratching their parrots, as doing so in certain spots can be sexually stimulating to a bird. In the wild, most parrots will groom or preen the head and neck feathers of their friends only – touching below the neck only occurs between mated pairs. A parrot with an owner who pets it on its back, belly, and wings will become confused, think that the owner wants to become its mate, and become sexually frustrated. This can result in feather destructive behaviour, and altered hormone levels can also predispose to illnesses and infections.

As a last resort, a veterinarian can prescribe behaviour-modifying drugs to try and reduce feather destructive behaviour. However, drug therapy will work best when combined with the behavioural and environmental modification plans described above. Drug therapy used alone is often not a cure. The same goes for devices such as collars, which can temporarily prevent a parrot from being able to reach its feathers with its beak. Although these collars will not get rid of the underlying cause, they can be helpful especially in severe cases in which parrots regularly damage their own skin. If feather destructive behaviour persists despite every treatment attempt, a parrot can live with having a collar on permanently, although the owner will then need to monitor closely to make sure that it is still able to move and eat normally.

Prognosis depends on how much time and effort the owner is able to commit to mitigating stress, how long the parrot has been engaging in feather destructive behaviour, and how severe the damage is. Sometimes, due to permanent damage to the feather follicles, feathers may never grow back even if the parrot stops picking its feathers. However, if the behaviour does not stop completely, even a minor decrease and some feather re-growth can be considered a success.

References:

Costa, P., Macchi, E., Tomassone, L., Ricceri, F., Bollo, E., Scaglione, F. E., Tarantola, M., De Marco, M., Prola, L., Bergero, D. and Schiavone, A. 2016. Feather picking in pet parrots: sensitive species, risk factor and ethological evidence. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 15(3): 473-480. Doi: 10.1080/1828051X.2016.1195711

Gaskins, L. A. and Hungerford, L. 2014. Nonmedical factors associated with feather picking in pet psittacine birds. Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery, 28(2): 109-117. Doi: 10.1647/2012/073r

Jenkins, J. 2001. Feather picking and self-mutilation in psittacine birds. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice, 4(3): 651-667. Doi: 10.1016/S1094-9194(17)30029-4

Rubinstein, J. and Lightfoot, T. 2014. Feather loss and feather destructive behavior in pet birds. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice, 17(1): 77-101. Doi: 10.1016/j.cvex.2013.10.002

Van Zeeland, Y. R. A. and Schoemaker, N.J. 2014. Plumage disorders in psittacine birds – part 2: feather damaging behaviour. European Journal of Companion Animal Practice, 24(2): 24-36.

Van Zeeland, Y. R. A., Spruit, B. M., Rodenburg, T. B., Riedstra, B., Van Hierden, Y. M., Buitenhuis, B., Korte, S. M. and Lumeij, J. T. 2009. Feather damaging behaviour in parrots: a review with consideration of comparative aspects. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 121(2): 75-95. Doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2009.09.006

[necessaryveganism]

An incredibly important speech!

Prairie dogs and chickens speak about humans, dolphins and parrots have names, bats like to gossip. Nonhuman animals are not silent, even though they are often presented as such. This has consequences for politics and advocacy. Drawing on insights from ethology and political philosophy, in her talk Eva Meijer will discuss examples of animal communities who use their voices to speak, and act, in political ways and argue that we need to rethink our relations with other animals, taking their voices into account as the starting point for a new interspecies Democracy

Dr. Eva Meijer works as a postdoctoral researcher at Wageningen University (NL) in a project called Anthropocene Ethics: Taking Animal Agency Seriously. She taught (animal) philosophy at the University of Amsterdam and is the chair of the Dutch study group for Animal Ethics, as well as a founding member of Minding Animals The Netherlands. Recent publications include When Animals Speak: Toward an Interspecies Democracy (NUY Press 2019), Animal Languages (John Murray 2019), and novel Bird Cottage, (Pushkin Press 2018). Her books have been translated into fifteen languages.

[terrible-tentacle-theatre]

Tfw you get to watch funny animal videos in ethology class because you're technically conducting a test with it and writing down your Cohen's Kappa value with another observer but that doesn't at all change the fact that you're in fact watching a parrot dance to Michael Jackson on the big screen.

[barbaraheidenreich]

Are you a superimposer???! What is that you ask? Superimposition is when one behavior is superimposed over another. (Our team learned about this from Dr Joe Layng https://animaltrainingfundamentals.com/podcasts/dr-joe-layng/ ) For example, let’s say we have a parrot who bites at hands when food and water bowls are changed and biting successfully makes hands go away. One way many have been taught to address this is to train the bird to sit on a perch in order to receive nuts. The stationing on the perch behavior is superimposed upon the biting at hands behavior. Stationing is maintained by positive reinforcement and biting is maintained by negative reinforcement. Even though this approach looks like it “kinda” works, functionally it does not. In www.BIGforAnimals.com, we first want to give the bird what it really wants, which likely isn't food. It is to make those hands go away! We can do that by creating an environment so that the bird is able to present desired calm behavior in the presence of hands so that we have an opportunity to reinforce desired responses by removing our hands. We can shape with negative reinforcement until we have the desired behavior of a calm behavior while we change bowls. We can also include the stationing behavior later, but if we never address the behavior that works for the bird to get the desired outcome all we are doing is superimposing one behavior (stationing) on top of the problem behavior (biting). Learn more by watching the video at www.BIGforAnimals.com. #BIGforAnimals #Behaviorinterventionguidelines #behaviorproblem #animaltraininguidelines #trainingguidelines #animaltraining #animalbehavior #animaltrainingresources #exoticanimaltraining #alternativetothehierarchy #alternativetothehumanehierarchy #alternativetoLIMA #leastintrusive #leastrestrictive #leastaversive #LIMA #Leastinstrusiveminimallyaversvie #behaviorchangehierarchy #humanehierarchy #superimposition #noncoercivenegativereinforcement #constructionalapproach #constructionalaggressiontreatment #constructionalaffectiontreatment #functionalbehaviorassessment #functionbasedintervention #effectiveefficientoptimal #ethology #practicalapplication #zooanimaltraining https://www.instagram.com/p/CSO_6DZn4gc/?utm_medium=tumblr

[kinka-juice]

The only other mammals shown to be able to follow a beat (also known as entrainment) other than humans are sea lions. Some other primates drum on things to make noise, but they do not appear to have a sense of rhythm. Some parrots have also demonstrated entrainment, but that's it so far. But this rather niche area of ethology is still pretty new and it hasn't been tried with a lot of species (other pinnipeds are more likely, for instance, as harbor seals have shown vocal mimicry - they are surprisingly musical minds). There may be some other primates that can, but we haven't found it yet!

can a monkey waltz?

Some primates will play in a way that looks like dancing, and in unethical circumstances many species are heighly trainable, but waltzing seems unlikely. A 3/4 time signature is unlikely to be kept as a consistant rhythm-- and the waltz stance, in which both partners hold each other in a steady position as they dance, isn't really how monkeys roll.

[woodsfae]

Babylon 5 S01E04: Infection

First

Previous

ToC

Gonna live dangerously and try to gently chew some instant pho while I watch this one! Not-smoking without nicotine patches as an aid is going alright...probably because I don’t particularly feel like going into anaphylaxis again. Whenever I want a cig today, I think about yesterday when I realized I was totally alone in my house and couldn’t breathe and boom, cured for at least an hour.

 *hits play*

The subtitles tell me this new person is named Mary-Anne: why doesn’t it always do this?

Earthforce is a hilarious name.

“I’ve come to offer you an adventure, Stephen,” seems ominous, say no.

So you have to declare plants, non-sentient pets, and organic matter. But not sentient pets? What counts? Just with my level of ethological knowledge I’d say all corvids, all pigs, and all parrots at minimum are sentient. Edit: and elephants, apes, octopus, and cetaceans. And meerkats have language so probably them, too. Dunno if that’s what this random cargo bay/customs worker is talking about, though.

Nice of the smuggler to close the staff member’s eyes. So they don’t dry out, right? Not that he’s been hypo’d to death.

Aw, he’s dead. And he’s so new Garibaldi hasn’t even met him yet.

“I’d like you to meet my assistant, the guy who murdered the guy in your morgue right now.”

Living, organic tech is pretty cool. Murder to smuggle them into Babylon 5 still seems kinda excessive. Especially when you only have to wait 48 hours!

Nelson the murderer got lightning’d and now he’s sick, you can tell, cuz he’s sweating and getting an abscess.

Ohhhh no, it’s been a whole 15 hours and Stephen hasn’t made an historic breakthrough yet. One would think an archaeologist would be a little more patient.

Why, exactly, did an archaeologist teach MD Stephen Franklin at Uni? Let alone be an inspiration to him?

Reverse-engineering breakthroughs from a dead civilization for tech that your uneasy allies may or may not already have is a shortcut that makes one’s hands dirty? I don’t understand (yet) and am unsure why Stephen would feel dirty doing it, unless he’s just that anti-corporation. Which, fair. Fuck capitalists.

Nelson is looking R O U G H. I hope the organic tech eats him.

Ah, it’s sorta eatin him, sorta him eatin it.

“Protect who, and from what?” Or...protect what, and from whom? And how is shooting everyone you see fulfilling that goal, ancient, confused Nelsifact?

Ivanova: 1. Mary-Anne: 0.

HAH. @ladymegana told me they give some of the best lines to Ivanova and so far, I agree. What an excellent threat. Completely left up to the imagination but also so explicit. And her physicality is so appealing. She owns her space and has no problems frogmarching people around just with her posture and attitude. A+.

OH dang, Nelsifact is super mutated now. Artifelson? More glorious special effects.

Preeeeetty sure this rando artifact won’t eat Stephen, but I don’t have any gifset-related spoilers as to his survival or the lack thereof. Delenn is the only one I’m Pretty Sure Survives All The Way Through.

edit: I did not realize that was the murder weapon that he picked up. No stephen-eating has occurred.

Ahh, it’s turning Nelsifact into an Ikarran, it’s based on racist ideology, and he’s going to kill everyone who isn’t an Ikarran, which is everyone, since there are no Ikarrans left. Very neat and tidy summary of the progression of facism. First they came for, et cetera.

Yeah, vent that fucker into space.

When did they find out it was named Tular? Or that it had a name at all? Oh well. I like the armor. It looks neat. Too bad it’s attached to a genocidal space fascist.

Yep, this seems like a great way to piss off a fascist. Well done, Sinclair.

“Too tall, too short! Too dark, too light! They were killed, and the killing went on and on and on.”

Yep. This is a little chilling considering how much I’ve seen people advocating for eugenics-by-any-other-name lately. Always disappointing when a critique is as pointed and relevant in the modern day as it was when the critique was created some decades past. Can we march on with some progress yet? Or must we re-hash every advance we’ve ever made?

Nelsifact actor definitely had fun with this. Those dramatically trembling fingers and jaw! And now he’s naked and dead and human!

Oh, alive, actually. And headed to prison for murder. Nice.

The corporation is evil, duh. Dodging the quarantine was still unnecessary, it seems. Greedy mf’ers gonna do dumb things for their greed. Also still a relevant critique. 

just figured out why Garibaldi looks familiar. He looks a bit like Bruce Willis in the Fifth Element, I think.

“Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it. [...] It seems no one reads Santayana anymore. You’ll excuse me: if you need me I’ll be over there, getting drunk with the rest of the aliens.”

Ivanova really does have like ten great lines to everyone else’s one.

Good episode. All still fully pertinent today, depressingly. But excellent.

(pho eating and gentle chewing went well.)

Next!

[evoldir]

Fwd: Job: Vienna.BiologyStatistician

Begin forwarded message: > From: evoldir@evol.biology.mcmaster.ca > Subject: Job: Vienna.BiologyStatistician > Date: 17 March 2021 at 06:48:14 GMT > To: rdmpage@gmail.com > > > *Grade*:                                        Postdoc > > *Level of employment*:               40 hours > > *Length of employment*:            2 years but extension is anticipated > > *Deadline for applications*:        April, 7 > > We are seeking a postdoctoral statistician to provide statistical > consultancy for the Vetmeduni Vienna, with a focus on two groups of the > Department 5 (Unit of Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, > and Domestication Group of the Institute of Ethology). The staff and > student researchers in these two groups investigate the underlying > mechanisms , the functions, the evolution  and the development > of  cognitive abilities of dogs, wolves, parrots and pigs. These are > examined in observational and experimental settings, using specific, > well-controlled behavioural tests and state-of-the-art analysis tools > (video analysis, machine learning, eye tracking). > > The main duty of the post-holder will be to provide statistical consultancy > to all staff and students, supported by a well-established statistics > training programme. She/he will collaborate on the design and analysis of > lab and field experiments and the application of a wide range of modern > statistical modelling and multivariate analysis methods. Therefore, a broad > working knowledge of the application of statistics in this scientific area > is required; in particular, experience related to the application of > statistical approaches to behavioural data and a good understanding of > animal behaviour studies, in both the field and in the experimental > context. The applicant should have in-depth experience with modelling > approaches, taking into account small sample sizes and repeated measures > designs, as well as unbalanced data sets with missing values and > categorical variables. Furthermore, experience with a priori power analysis > and (automated) data processing are desirable. Importantly, the applicant > should also have a good capacity and strong commitment to communicate with > and support colleagues and students at all levels (Masters, PhDs etc) with > the statistical requirements of their project and design, help students to > fit models, writing up the methods and results parts for publications and > teach both introductory and advanced in-house statistical courses including > modelling in R. Finally, the applicant should be keen to advise scientists > in other disciplines, especially in neuroscience, psychology, genetics, and > (veterinary and human) medicine. > > Required qualifications > >   - PhD in statistics, mathematics, biology, medicine or >     veterinary medicine >   - Substantial statistical experience within the life sciences >   - Expertise with a wide range of modern statistical modelling and >     multivariate analysis methods >   - Sound experience with statistical software (preferably R) >   - Fluency in both written and spoken English > > Preferred qualifications > >   - Experience in planning and designing behavioural or cognitive tests >   - Very good knowledge in (Generalized) Linear Mixed Models >   - Experience with conducting a-priori power analyses >   - Experience with (statistical) programming and automated data >     processing >   - Knowledge of Bayesian statistics >   - Experience with automated video image analysis and big data >     analysis >   - Experience in small-group teaching >   - Experience of communicating statistical concepts to non- >     statisticians > >   - Proven publication skills > > In the application letter the candidate should explicitly refer to these > qualifications. > > The University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna expects the successful > candidate to acquire sufficient German language proficiency (within 3 > years) for teaching and participating in University bodies. > > *Applications should be accompanied by the following documents:* > > · Application letter (including preferred and earliest possible start > date) together with a statement of personal motivation > > · Academic curriculum vitae (including a list of publications, a list > of courses and students supervised, a list of talks given) > > · Copies of relevant certificates > > · Contact details of people who could provide a letter of reference > (reference letters are not required at this stage) > > Contact / Further Information > > Prof. Ludwig Huber > > Messerli Research Institute > > ludwig.huber@vetmeduni.ac.at > > https://ift.tt/297IAwq > > Dr. Marlies Dolezal > > Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Platform > > marlies.dolezal@vetmeduni.ac.at > > https://ift.tt/3vxr1Pi > > Associate Prof. Dr. Friederike Range > > Domestication Lab, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology > > Friederike.range@vetmeduni.ac.at > > https://ift.tt/2OZ8Xgb > > Minimum salary > > The minimum salary for university staff is regulated by the collective > contract and at the level given above amounts to EUR 3945 gross per month > (14 times/year). The minimum salary may be increased when previous > employment and other salary components are taken into account. > Applications > > Please submit applications quoting the *reference number **2021**/0319* via > e-mail (preferably) to bewerbungen@vetmeduni.ac.at or by post to the > Personnel Department of the University of Veterinary Medicine, > Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna.  Please do not forget to include the > reference number or we shall be unable to relate your application to the > correct vacancy announcement. > > The Vetmeduni Vienna is attempting to increase the proportion of female > staff, particularly in senior positions, and in accordance with § 41 of the > 2002 Universities Act it is striving to attain a balanced representation of > men and women, especially on its scientific staff. Applications from > qualified women are thus particularly welcomed.  If women are > underrepresented (below 50%), female applicants who are as well qualified > as the best qualified male applicants will be given preference, provided > that there are no strong reasons for favouring a particular male candidate. > > Applicants have no entitlement to reimbursement of any travel or > accommodation costs they may incur as a result of the application procedure. > > The Vetmeduni Vienna is proud to have been awarded the certificate > "*hochschuleundfamilie*" (career and family). We should thus be especially > pleased to receive applications from people with families. Applications > from persons with disabilities are similarly welcome. > > > Christian Schlötterer > Institut für Populationsgenetik > Vetmeduni Vienna > Veterinärplatz 1 > 1210 Wien > Austria/Europe > > phone: +43-1-25077-4300 > fax: +43-1-25077-4390 > https://ift.tt/2fFgleK > > Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics > https://ift.tt/1zZRPa1 > > Christian Schlötterer > via IFTTT

[not-poignant]

Thankyuo so much for wishing me good luck in my zoology degree and for once someone didn't ask if i wanted to be a zookeeper!! cause some people are just urgh but I actually haven't passed maths I'm from the UK and studying in the UK but doing a science degre and I cannot do basic division and yet final year XD the looks i get from lecturers, well i want to go more into animal cognition and learning but i took functional morphology which fae tales wise makes me think of macro and micro evolutio

n and how bones work and devlope and evolve and like our ancestors lucy and ardi but i find that module so hard it's remembering everything animal locomotion, mastication flight genes etc so tricky, I do animal learning and cognition which i love and parrots and corvids are so so smart it's so cool , current topics of zoology that's like planaria, illegal wildlife trade lecturers special areas of research so venoms etc work based learning i did a placement at my uni and animal social systems             

*

Animal cognition and learning sounds really awesome, and anything to do with animal behaviour/ethology and just ahhhhh. *sighs happily* And I bet there’s way more options these days then when I looked into it as a teenager in backwards Western Australia.

Re: the maths, I’m glad that you’re still able to do the degree! I was always told that without basic maths (and I have dyscalculia) I’d not be able to do it, which...may not be true, honestly, given that a lot has changed in 20 years. But yeah like, as a result I’m just an armchair enthusiast in the zoological sciences (some more than others). I always thought about going into taxonomy, and for a while there I seriously considered doing a natural history illustration fine arts degree, except none are offered in Western Australia and I’d have to move state. So you know, here I am, writing the things. :D

But it’s so awesome that you think about the fae tales stuff from your perspective that’s informed by so much biological knowledge. I can manage bits and pieces, but I imagine you can fill in so many mental gaps for yourself and it’s just awesome.

[natuwa]

Best macaw sanctuary

[tepporama]

Desmond Morris says the following about the book: "When a judge says that a young criminal behaved like an animal he means it as an insult. If he read Frans de Waal's splendid new book he would discover that in reality it is a compliment." My dad gave me this as a gift for helping him with computer issues today. This book is fantastic. I already read it once (library book), but will read again. Highly recommended. #fransdewaal #smart #animals #primates #bonobo #chimpanzee #elephant #octopus #crow #whale #bat #parrot #wasp #sheep #intelligence #ethology #cognition #sentience

[raptorsandpoultry]

Hello! I just discovered your blog a few days ago and I love it! If you had the time I had a quick question... I was recently corrected(?) by some local chicken keepers that apparently the rooster “shuffle” is actually an attempt at dominance? I’ve looked online and it seems quite a few other people agree with the sentiment and believe that the action precedes an attack on the owner. What are your thoughts on the matter? I just thought it was cute!

Hi! Thanks for the really interesting ask. I thought I had a quick answer to this, but ended up doing a lot of digging and learned a cool new thing in the process

First off, it is cute! It’s my second-favourite rooster behaviour after tid-bitting, and it always used to make my heart melt when my rooster “shuffled” for me. Anyway.

The rooster shuffle, or waltz, in which the roo tips one wing down and shuffles in a little arc around a hen (or a person), is most certainly a courtship behaviour that is not directly linked to dominance. Anyone who has a balanced flock and has taken the time to observe interactions between a roo and his hens can attest to this. Here’s a video for anyone who has no idea what we’re talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRX-O9RVUpo

As always, my first thoughts are to educate and remind people that the assumptions and expectations we have about an animal’s behaviour have a direct impact on how the animal responds to you and actually ends up behaving. If you label a rooster’s behaviour as “dominant” or “aggressive” because that’s the simplest explanation you can come up with without taking the time to empathize with him and consider other causes behind his behaviour, then that is the attitude that you will approach him with. He will definitely pick up on this, since that preconceived attitude will influence your own behaviour – whether you approach him timidly and then run away because you’re scared that he’ll “attack”, or march up to him aggressively with the intent of asserting your own dominance (which is almost always a big no-no in animal training; treating animals as our equals will yield the best results). As a result, you cause the rooster to feel threatened/scared/etc., which in turn leads to an “attack” (aggressive biting/chasing/jumping/lunging in self-defense, etc). Before I go off on this whole rant again, here’s a post where I talk about this in more detail.

Also keep in mind that while local chicken keepers and backyard chicken forums can be a fantastic resource for most topics, if they don’t have a scientific background you have to take opinions about other things (misinterpretation of behaviour, inappropriate medical “advice”, etc.) with a grain of salt. When it comes to normal rooster sexual behaviour, waltzing is usually associated with chasing of the hen, and afterwards, mounting her if things go smoothly. Could it be that when roosters end up directing these behaviours at people, owners might be misinterpreting chasing as the rooster’s attempt at angrily driving them away, and mounting/jumping onto feet/legs as an aggressive attack? It happens all the time with inexperienced parrot owners who inadvertently cause their birds to become sexually frustrated and then misinterpret masturbatory behaviour (directed at hands, feet, ponytails, etc.) as attacks, among other things.

Also interesting to note is that with selective breeding, the tendency to demonstrate certain behaviours can be altered in different ways. For example, one recent paper found that roosters bred to be more fearful exhibit more intense courtship behaviour than roosters bred to be less fearful of humans. Though the difference was only significant with respect to tid-bitting behaviour, with only a slight, but insignificant tendency for high-fear roosters to perform waltzing more often than low-fear roos. Neat finding, but it’s nearly impossible to generalize from there. Are roos that waltz often more likely to perceive threats and respond with fear-related aggressive behaviour to their owners misinterpreting them (and showing their own dominance behaviour)? Without any evidence, it’s hard to say. And even then, every roo is different and responds to stimuli in different ways, so without being there in person to see what’s happening, I couldn’t tell you why a given roo “attacks” his owner after a waltz, if it can even be labelled as an attack in the first place.

As I mentioned, I always loved it when my roo waltzed for me. I would respond by crouching to get to his level and gently petting his back as he waited for his favourite treat (no one asked, but it was blackberries).

Another long-winded answer for the books. Hope this answers your question, anon!

References:

Johnsen TS, Popma SL, Zuk M. Male courtship displays, ornaments and female mate choice in captive red jungle fowl. Behaviour. 1995 Jan 1;132(11-12):821-36.

Katajamaa R, Larsson LH, Lundberg P, Sörensen I, Jensen P. Activity, social and sexual behaviour in Red Junglefowl selected for divergent levels of fear of humans. PloS one. 2018 Sep 26;13(9):e0204303.

Rushen J. The development of sexual relationships in the domestic chicken. Applied Animal Ethology. 1983 Sep 1;11(1):55-66.