The Anomalies: The Acorn Woodpecker | bioGraphic
Ғылым және технология
These highly social birds defy the typical two-parent family structure, proving that cooperation can make good evolutionary sense.
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Originally published on biographic.com: bit.ly/2i3cauQ
Produced by Day's Edge Productions
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Acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) aren’t exactly shrinking violets. Between their bold plumage and exuberant calls, the birds practically scream for attention. (Famed animator Walter Lantz once claimed that his best-known cartoon creation, Woody Woodpecker, was inspired by a particularly intrusive acorn woodpecker that wouldn’t stop pecking on the roof of his cabin-during his honeymoon!) But these charismatic birds are notable for much more than just their first impression. As their name implies, acorn woodpeckers rely heavily on acorns for sustenance. To make sure this seasonal resource remains available throughout the year, the birds build enormous “granaries” by drilling thousands of holes into their oak-tree homes and stashing a single nut securely inside each hole. Since just one of these holes takes an average of 20 minutes to drill, the birds fiercely defend their granaries, and reuse them from year to year. The largest granary found to date was riddled with individual compartments for more than 50,000 acorns.
Unlike other woodpeckers-or virtually any other birds-acorn woodpeckers live in complex family groups numbering up to 15 adults, all of which work together to raise chicks in a single nest. This surprising discovery led scientists in the 1920s to declare that there was “communism” at play in the species. Biologist Walter Koenig, a professor emeritus at Cornell University, has been studying acorn woodpeckers at the Hastings Natural History Reservation in Carmel Valley, California for more than 40 years to better understand this complex social structure. Every summer, Koenig and his colleagues capture and band hundreds of new woodpecker chicks. Using color-coded leg bands, the researchers are able to identify and follow individual birds and their families year after year. The huge dataset they have amassed over four decades-which now includes genetic data to help the scientists better understand relatedness among individuals-has yielded surprising answers to one of evolutionary biology’s biggest questions: Why cooperate?
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Пікірлер: 31
Wow, such interesting and amazing birds! Great video :)
These very cool woodpeckers have suffered from fragmentation as their primary food source are from scrub oak, emory oak, California oak, and it what any clown with a chainsaw will cut down. I timberlog, and we don't cut those down, and it is too low of elevation, but I have spent many many months, maybe years, in campers in areas where the oaks have been vanquished and it is haunting to not hear these cool clownish woodpeckers.....as well as many other birds. I know the contrast by heart, and it is scarey to see the difference in a 'dead' forest...a lack of birds. I have fed wild birds for many years in the wilderness.
Wow, that was amazing. Learn something new everyday.
@grapehead1850
6 жыл бұрын
The more information we gather the more amazing other animals are. Those tree larders are super impressive.
Such beautiful creatures!
Thanks for a quick primer on the woodpeckers
Awesome video; glad I clicked onto it! I'm curious as to why Acorn Woodpeckers turned to granaries in the first place. Evidently, it's not a strategy widely-used by other woodpecker species, and it requires a great deal of work. I would be interested in learning more about current theories concerning the origins of this behavior.
@howwrongwewere
2 жыл бұрын
The specific method I'm not sure but I did hear on another video that the reason they collect so many more than necessary is they intentionally overstock bc a portion of the acorns will end up molding and rotting and obviously theft from squirrels if they're not vigilant. They're pretty amazing creatures.
Great, informative video! Fascinating bird. 💕
Lmao I can relate to helpers.
Wow, these birds are really amazing
Excelente trabajo, felicidades por proteger la conservación de esta especie. Saludos desde Colombia 🇨🇴.
Amazing!
Just saw one of these in my backyard. Had light blue/grayish coloration. I live in NW Florida and bird watcher for many years but this is the first time I've seen this type of woodpecker here. They are beautiful and swooped down to get a look at us twice then landed nearby calling out for the mate Im guessing.
@cecehurst3509
2 жыл бұрын
not a acorn woodpecker since these are only found in CA and a bit of mexico
Good video, and good thinking. Scientists already assume way to much in other fields...
those holes dont take 20 mins ive seen them do it far far quicker!
3:36 what is she doing with her mouth?
@Tismesue
Жыл бұрын
She appears to be blowing the blood sample into a sample tube.
@hankgreenswife
9 ай бұрын
The forbidden: pipetting by mouth.
Do we share half of our genes with our siblings? this doesn't sound right.
@evobio
3 жыл бұрын
Yes, it's exactly correct. You share half your genome with a full sibling and with either of your parents. You share a quarter of your genome with a grandparent and with an aunt/uncle. You share one eighth of your genome with a first cousin. Etc.
And these people get paid for doing this?
doenkey kongey 😊😥😀😂😫😭
What a magnificent video! Thanks to channel owner. Very much appreciative indeed. Dear viewers: Just for the sake of clarifying some misconceptions, don’t you all agree that the absolute credit, acknowledgment & gratitude is entitled to (ALLAH) GOD Almighty. The only TRUE GOD. The creator as well as the preserver of the whole universe. Not the alleged Mother Nature! Mother Nature is his creation. And certainly not the big lie EVOLUTION. Isn’t that right? All species/wonders including human beings haven’t created themselves. GOD Almighty did. No alleged associates/partners with him. Consequently, he must be solely worshipped, feared & praised all time. I am not trying to make someone to convert, it’s up to you. It is your own choice to decide. Accept my greetings.
@evobio
3 жыл бұрын
oh for fuck's sake
@howwrongwewere
2 жыл бұрын
Cool cool I'll deff be sure to express my "gratitude" for his latest creation, the covid19 virus.
@robinhuff5899
2 жыл бұрын
Greetings to you, also. One of our days is not one of God’s days. A Godhead ~whether you call him Allah, Jehovah, or Adonai (all the same God, for those who don’t know) would not have the same concept of linear time as humans do. So there is no difficulty in understanding and believing in BOTH religious teachings and evolution. God put things in motion, creating the heavens, planets, stars then the creatures of the oceans, then the Earth, then Human kind…just as evolution understands the planet was created, then biological processes gradually created creatures and plants of the oceans who evolved in some cases to creatures & plants of the soil…plants & animals evolve all the time. The process is usually so very slow we can’t see it happening, but we can look back through the fossil record and now DNA to find those shifts. Evolution is the difference between wolves or hyenas and the dogs we have in our homes. They are related species, with a common ancestor, just as Mankind has evolved from from previous species. Some believe God/Allah/Adonai/Jehovah put Creation into action, others believe it was a chance event. But believing in God doesn’t make a lie of evolution. It simply explains it a different way.