CHICKADEES HAVE
COMPLEX CODES
Biologists have reported that
chickadees convey complex information
about predators. According
to Chris Templeton, a
biology student who has studied
their chirps, chickadees actually
communicate details. A string
of 6 to 10 “D” notes means there
is a serious threat. The biologist
says that their warnings are
related to the body size of the
predator. Small predators are
viewed as more dangerous because
they are often swifter.
Small owls, for example, generate
more alarm than larger
raptors. Chickadees are quite
able to avoid larger clumsier
birds. Biologists say that no one
has realized the complexity of
the birds’ communication because
some features can’t be
heard but only seen in a
sonogram.
Other studies have shown
that birds dream, rehearse their
songs, and have regional dialects.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC
CHURCH JOINS ACTIVISTS
TO SAVE PARROTS
The Roman Catholic Church and
parrot activists are asking worshippers
not to cut the leaves of
wax palms on the slopes of the
Andes for Palm Sunday Services.
There are only 540 yellow-eared
parrots thought to be left in the
wild, and they live in wax palms.
The Church is providing seeds
and education to worshipers to
plant other types of palm trees
for their fronds.
FOR BUTTERFLY WATCHERS
The Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center
in Pine Mountain, Georgia has
reopened a 14,000 acre nature
and recreation center in the Appalachian
foothills. There will be
1,000 tropical butterflies and
lush flowers that provide the insects
with nectar. The Center is
about 70 miles southwest of Atlanta.
www.callaway
gardens.com
BAD NEWS FOR MONARCH
BUTTERFLIES
Monarch butterflies are dying in
Mexico. While weather is considered
to be one of the reasons,
the problems include loss of
habitat due to logging and the
spraying of pesticides and other
poisons. The population has
declined by 75%. Logging can
create climatic changes.
<< Back to the Article Index
