Equilibrium/Sustainability — Bird vs. human ‘arms race’ heats up
Australia’s wily trash-raiding cockatoos are running up against human ingenuity in a real-time evolutionary “arms race,” a new study has found.
The dynamic relationship between cockatoos who want to open trash bins and the humans who want to keep them out is driving both species to new feats of “social learning,” according to the study, published on Monday in Current Biology.
Groups of the cockatoos, a social species native to Australia, had learned to open trash bins in two Sydney suburbs — and spread the method to “cockatoo colleagues” in 40 more, as we reported last year.
This rapid diffusion of trash-raiding strategies is a reflection of cockatoo culture, lead author Barbara Klump, of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, said in a statement.
“The cockatoos learn the behavior from observing other cockatoos and within each group they sort of have their own special technique, so across a wide geographic range the techniques are more dissimilar,” Klump said.
The cockatoos have hacked a weakness in Sydney’s garbage management system, according to the researchers. The bins can’t be sealed against them without also ruining the ability of the city’s semi-automated trash trucks to pick them up.
But that need has created a niche for more creative deterrents, from hinge-blocking sticks to rocks that weigh down bin lids.
“It’s not just social learning on the cockatoo side, but it’s also social learning on the human side,” Klump says. “People come up with new protection methods on their own, but a lot of people actually learn it from their neighbors or people on their street, so they get their inspiration from someone else.”
Energy & Environment — Democrats take heart at falling gas pricesWoman accused of making death threats against judge in Trump documents case
Welcome to Equilibrium, a newsletter that tracks the growing global battle over the future of sustainability. We’re Saul Elbein and Sharon Udasin. Send us tips and feedback. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.
Today we’ll look at why fires in the Pacific Northwest are worsening air quality as far east as Denver. Plus: Why the White House is worried about a proposed rail strike next week, and a surprise culprit in mining-related deforestation.
Energy & Environment — Democrats take heart at falling gas pricesWoman accused of making death threats against judge in Trump documents case
Air Quality Concerns
Wildfires gripping the Pacific Northwest are making the air far less breathable across the U.S. West, as windy weather transports hazardous particles and over multiple state lines.
Blazes abound: First responders were fighting 16 large fires in the Pacific Northwest on Monday, with smoke conditions persisting throughout the region, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center — a hub for federal and state woodland fire agencies.