Kleptotrichy

[Graciano Goudreau]

Thephenomenon was first defined scientifically in a journal article published in July 2021. Scientists largely studied it from videos posted to YouTube. The study found that the tufted titmouse was among the species of birds which most frequently engaged in kleptotrichy.[1]

This black-crested titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus) was caught on video in Texas plucking hair from a sleeping fox to build a nest. Scientists now have a name for this brazen behavior: kleptotrichy.

Meanwhile, a YouTube search by the team turned up 99 videos of tufted titmice, a mountain chickadee and a black-crested titmouse plucking hair from mammals. The latter two bird species had not previously been identified as hair thieves in the scientific literature.

Jaime Chambers was a 2021 AAAS Mass Media Fellow with Science News. She delights in all things creeping, crawling and curious, and studies human-dog coevolution as an anthropology Ph.D. student at Washington State University. She has also written for Science, Massive Science and Ask Dr. Universe, a science column for kids.

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In the academic literature, they found only 11 examples of kleptotrichy mentioned by other scientists, with most involving the Paridae family of birds. But once they turned to the birding community and started searching for videos on YouTube, they found a treasure trove of birds caught in the act. All told, they found 99 incidents of kleptotrichy committed by birds against humans, dogs, cats, raccoons, and even one porcupine. A large majority of these sightings, including the original raccoon theft, involved the tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor), but two other Paridae species were spotted in the videos, too.

For the tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) and its closest relatives, that material is often the fur of mammalian carnivores, which scientists had thought pillaged from dead animals, or opportunistically snagged when the animals shed.

He and colleagues, led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Mark Hauber and Henry Pollock, found that fur theft has been mentioned only sparsely in the scientific literature - but YouTube videos uploaded by bird enthusiasts turned out to be a rich resource indeed.

In these videos, tufted titmice were seen plucking fur from domestic dogs and cats, and even a porcupine. In addition, several other videos showed other bird species stealing fur, in whom such behavior had not been scientifically documented.

But, although the literature may have scant records, other resources suggest that birds stealing fur from living mammals is quite well known among the general public: Tufted titmice are described as occasional fur thieves on the Cornell Lab webpage for the species, and in Australia, yellow-faced honeyeaters purloin fuzz from snoozing koalas.

"There's a local species called the great crested flycatcher, which, like the titmouse, is a cavity nester, that actually puts shed snakeskins into its nest, possibly to deter predators," Brawn said. Finches in Africa exhibit a similar behavior, using predator feces as a deterrent (and wouldn't it just).

It might even be possible that the fur helps repel parasites, which can rapidly kill tiny hatchlings. Some birds line their nests with plant materials that can keep such interlopers at bay, although it's unclear whether mammal fur has similar properties.

Further research will be needed in order to figure out what benefit the birds are getting from the fruits of their misdeeds, but preliminary geographic analysis conducted by the team suggests that kleptotrichy is more common in higher latitudes. This, in turn, suggests that the fur is gathered for keeping nests warm first and foremost.

"Unexpected interactions such as these remind us that animals exhibit all types of interesting and often overlooked behaviors and highlight the importance of careful natural history observations to shed light on the intricacies of ecological communities," Pollock said.

قد تستخدم الطيور أسلوب سرقة الشعر لردع الحيوانات المفترسة ولكن كيف! تم تصوير القرد الأسود ( Baeolophus atricristatus ) في تكساس على شريط فيديو وهو ينتف شعرًا من ثعلب نائم أخيرًا أطلق العلماء اسمًا على هذا السلوك الجريء إنه مصطلح جديد: kleptotrichy.

تساءل بولوك وهوبر وزملاؤهم عما إذا كان علماء آخرون قد شاهدوا سلوكًا مشابهًا. في أمريكا الجنوبية تلتقط الطيور التي تسمى حركات النخيل الريش من الحمام والببغاوات الطائرة يسمى هذا السلوك kleptoptily.

لكن الفريق وجد 11 وصفًا علميًا فقط لطيور تسرق الشعر من ثدييات حية اشتملت معظم الحسابات على titmice في أمريكا الشمالية كما تشارك خمسة أنواع أخرى من الطيور على الأقل في هذا النشاط رأى الباحثون غرابًا أمريكيًا يحصد شعرًا من بقرة شوهد زرزور أحمر الجناح في جنوب إفريقيا ينقر على ظباء صغير يسمى klipspringer في أستراليا ثلاثة أنواع من الطيور آكلة العسل تسرق الفراء من الكوالا.

اكتشف العلماء الذين أعدوا الطيور في حديقة ولاية إلينويز هذا القرد المعنقد الذي يقطف الفراء من راكون غائم وغير منزعج من خلال البحث في المجلات العلمية وموقع يوتيوب وجد الباحثون عشرات الأمثلة الأخرى لطيور تنقر شعرها عن ثدييات حية.

وفي الوقت نفسه أظهر بحث على موقع يوتيوب قام به الفريق 99 مقطع فيديو لطيور تنتف شعر الثدييات كان اللصوص المعقد هو أكثر لصوص الشعر شيوعًا لكن تم القبض أيضًا على قرقص جبلي وقرد أسود الرأس على شريط فيديو يسرقان شعر الثدييات لم يسبق للعلماء أن وصفوا هذين النوعين من الطيور وهما يسرقان الشعر.

يفترض العلماء عمومًا أن الطيور تجمع الشعر لأعشاشها بطرق منخفضة المخاطر. على سبيل المثال قد يسحبون الفراء من الجثث أو يجمعون زغبًا طائشًا يتساقط في مهب الريح لقد كانت مفاجأة عندما علمت أن بعض الطيور تخاطر بشكل أكبر بالشعر.

تميل أنواع الطيور التي تحصد الشعر إلى العيش في المناخات الباردة يقول الفريق إن هذه الطيور من المحتمل أن تمنح خصائص عزل الشعر للحفاظ على الدفء والأمان قد تقوم بعض الطيور أيضًا بتجميل أعشاشها بشعر الثدييات للتشويش على الحيوانات المفترسة والطفيليات المحتملة.

Algunas especies de aves arrancan de forma regular el pelo de animales desprevenidos, incluidos los humanos, para hacer revestimientos para sus nidos, cuentan los cientficos. En un estudio reciente, detallan el fenmeno del robo de cabello, citando numerosos videos de YouTube que capturan aves en el acto. No est del todo claro por qu el pelo es un material de construccin tan atractivo para estas aves, pero puede servir para disuadir a los depredadores o simplemente podra ser un gran aislante.

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