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Altruistic? behaviour in birds (1 Viewer)

Chosun Juan

Given to Fly
Australia - Aboriginal
I thought I would start this thread to document some behaviour I witnessed, and see what folks think of it, and to see what else, if anything, pops up ....

I was walking alongside the riparian area of some Grassy Box Gum Woodland in the Central West NSW, when I saw something that I'd never seen before.

On a very large, mature Blakely's Red Gum growing in the, at that time, dry, creek, was a Galah about 15-20m up on the solid main trunk chewing some bark around a smallish (~5-10cm? in diameter) grey broken branch stump. It was working diligently away. The thing that really struck me was that it would have taken ~ perhaps ~ 50 years to form a usable hollow of the size needed - likely beyond the lifespan of the bird. It was likely that that particular hollow project would have taken many years and decades even of constant dedicated work to form a suitable hollow.

GalahinTree.jpg
Not a photo of the occurrence, but was something similar to this -
photo credit: http://www.mfgowoodlandexperiment.org.au/MFGOpublications.html

This behaviour struck me as totally altruistic - working away for something that almost certainly wouldn't have benefited the individual. .....

Is that the right take on it? Has anyone else witnessed this or something like it in Australia? Are there any studies or research on it? and are there other different examples from around the world?


Chosun :gh:
 
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Birds of many species have a natural proclivity to gnaw or peck at wood and other hard materials--helps keep their bills from over-growing (or so it's said). It's only man, I'm afraid, who plants trees that he will never live long enough to sit under. . ..
 
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The thing that really struck me was that it would have taken ~ perhaps ~ 50 years to form a usable hollow of the size needed - likely beyond the lifespan of the bird.

I'd not be sure on that! They have strong bills, and can rip wood up faster than you might think.

Compare woodpeckers - they can excavate a nest hole in sound wood in 2 or 3 weeks; a lot less if the wood is decayed at all.

And while I don't know about Galahs specifically, at least some other cockatoos can shred the very tough woody cones of Pinus radiata in just a few minutes to get the seeds out.
 
Birds of many species have a natural proclivity to gnaw or peck at wood and other hard materials--helps keep their bills from over-growing (or so it's said). It's only man, I'm afraid, who plants trees that he will never live long enough to sit under. . ..
Yes, I'm certain there are multiple functions to some behaviours, and beak maintenance may be one of these - both for trimming, and shedding of old layers to help with viral diseases, etc.

Often the large parrots here will strip bark away from around an existing hollow and then rub it smooth with their beaks (incorporating dust or oils), I presume to make it more difficult for lizards, snakes, and goannas, or other predators, to get a grip and hence access to the nest. I have seen Galahs doing this many times. There is some great information along these lines in this link under the section titled NEST. http://galah.galahs.com.au/content/php/article047.php

What struck me about the occurrence in the initial post, was that the tree was extremely solid and healthy, exhibiting none of the dieback and rot that is present as they age and senescence, had never "dropped branches" during the heat of summer as others nearby had done, and that the broken/dead branch was tiny, and decades and decades away from being a suitable hollow.

It was supremely ambitious, and I strongly doubt would have yielded tangible results within the lifetime of the bird.


Chosun :gh:
 
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I'd not be sure on that! They have strong bills, and can rip wood up faster than you might think.

Compare woodpeckers - they can excavate a nest hole in sound wood in 2 or 3 weeks; a lot less if the wood is decayed at all.

And while I don't know about Galahs specifically, at least some other cockatoos can shred the very tough woody cones of Pinus radiata in just a few minutes to get the seeds out.
Well, I'm even more unsure on what you are suggesting! ;)

Eucalyptus 'Box' and 'Gum' trees out here are made out of 'hardwood'. It's called hardwood, well, because it's bl**dywell hard! I recall once trying to split a large block of 'Ironbark' - I summoned what I thought was an almighty blow from way above my head with the 8lb block splitter and hit this thing as hard as I could ...... the splitter bounced at high speed straight back over my head nearly taking it with it! I could almost swear I heard the block *snigger* !

The Blakely's Red Gum (980kg/m3) is less dense than Ironbark (1200kg/m3) but still twice that of radiata pine ....

The Red Gum's are more susceptible than other hardwoods to a type of fungal rot, but I have made many hollows out of cut logs with small central pipes which I expanded with 3lb hammer and stout concrete chisel - and no bird whatsoever is going to generate anywhere near that force or make that impact on solid wood. In the presence of rotted wood, then yes, the stronger Cockatoos and Galahs would be able to eventually make some progress chewing this away.

That's what struck me about the initial occurrence reported - the wood was super solid.


Chosun :gh:
 
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I have come across some other reports and commentary titled "Do Galahs make their own nesting hollows?" here:
http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/html/canberrabirds//2006-01/msg00013.html
http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/html/canberrabirds//2006-01/msg00014.html
http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/html/canberrabirds//2006-01/msg00023.html

The suggestion is that removing the bark around a healthy branch base may allow water to eventually penetrate and commence the rotting process. Even if this is the purpose in this instance, these are still seriously seriously long term projects likely beyond the lifespan of individual birds ..... :h?:


Chosun :gh:
 
Yes, I'm certain there are multiple functions to some behaviours, and beak maintenance may be one of these - both for trimming, and shedding of old layers to help with viral diseases, etc.

Often the large parrots here will strip bark away from around an existing hollow and then rub it smooth with their beaks (incorporating dust or oils), I presume to make it more difficult for lizards, snakes, and goannas, or other predators, to get a grip and hence access to the nest. I have seen Galahs doing this many times. There is some great information along these lines in this link under the section titled NEST. http://galah.galahs.com.au/content/php/article047.php

What struck me about the occurrence in the initial post, was that the tree was extremely solid and healthy, exhibiting none of the dieback and rot that is present as they age and senescence, had never "dropped branches" during the heat of summer as others nearby had done, and that the broken/dead branch was tiny, and decades and decades away from being a suitable hollow.

It was supremely ambitious, and I strongly doubt would have yielded tangible results within the lifetime of the bird

My guess is that the Gallah is just doing what comes naturally with no fully conscious end in view. And, without that, a conscious intent to benefit others, "altruism" in an ethical sense simply does not apply.

The pseudo-altruism embodied in kin-selection theory is a different matter, of course, but there is no reason to suspect it's implicated in the present case.
 
My guess is that the Gallah is just doing what comes naturally with no fully conscious end in view. And, without that, a conscious intent to benefit others, "altruism" in an ethical sense simply does not apply.

The pseudo-altruism embodied in kin-selection theory is a different matter, of course, but there is no reason to suspect it's implicated in the present case.
My view is not that far away - I'm not suggesting "conscious" altruism (for all we know of a Galah's thoughts - conscious or otherwise! :), though I don't think the 'conscious' part is key ..... it may be something more akin to genetic programming, or 'learned' survival behaviour, or by socialization or something. Less likely, it could also have something to do with being occupied, perhaps an activity performed out of interest etc.

Merriam-Webster defines Altruism as:
"2. :behavior by an animal that is not beneficial to or may be harmful to itself but that benefits others of its species"

I think this behaviour fits the definition perfectly, even if the "others of its species" is intergenerational, and the altruism is unconscious, misjudged, or accidental. In this specific case, the only Galah likely to benefit is one in a future generation. All in all, rather fascinating.


Chosun :gh:
 
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