Archive for February, 2023
Modern breeds don’t join wolves in their call of the wild
When I grew up, dogs mainly roamed free in my Saint Paul city neighborhood. They would create a terrific cacophony of howls when fire engines cruised by, and even more so during monthly testing of civil-defense sirens.
Based on my observations of our dogs and others it seemed to me that they all responded to these wolf-like sounds. So I was surprised to learn that Hungarian scientists observed only 39 of 68 breeds joining in on wolf howling.* Furthermore, they graded the vocal responses by type as follows (making me howl with laughter-ha ha):
- Howl, Bark-howl, Moan, Yelp
- Growl, Growl-howl, Woof
- Whine, Whine-howl
- Bark
The researchers then applied principal component analysis (PCA) that connected the degree of howling to the genetic distance from wolves—ancient breeds (huskies, malamutes and the like) older most likely to join in. This effect becomes more pronounced with age: Older dogs from modern breeds (for example, terriers and boxers) being least likely to howl with the wolves.
Hopefully, I interpreted this study correctly—there’s a lot to it. However, if you have a dog and remain uncertain how they howl, turn the volume up on this video.
By the way, I almost literally ran into a huge timber-wolf sitting on a remote road in northern Minnesota. After I brought our family car to a full stop, the wolf stared me down before sauntering slowly off. That gave me a healthy respect for Canis lupus and their wildness.
PS If you like dogs (as I do!), check out this briefing by Reuters, which includes a short video of the lead scientist and her Siberian husky Bizsu, whose howling precipitated this fascinating study.
Going all out to save the birds
Posted by mark in Nature, Uncategorized on February 10, 2023
Last summer a cute little bird smacked into our patio door. It stood stunned long enough for me to get this closeup.
I see lots of cardinals (my favorite!), finches, sparrows and other backyard birds all year round. Others—robins and the like—come only when the weather warms up. However, I don’t recall ever seeing one in pretty pastels of brown and yellow. This beautifully colored creature does not pop out for me as one of the 23 most common birds in Minnesota. What could it be? Google Lens provides a clue by identifying it as a warbler. Along this line, based on what’s pictured on internet (even narrowed to warblers, many appearing similar), I’m going with this being a female (juvenile?) common yellowthroat. Do you agree?
Happily, this cute little yellow-throated bird flew off soon after its stunning encounter with our house and never came back to knock on our door. However, from time to time a bright-red male cardinal takes issue with its rival staring back from our bay windows. I’ve tried to ward these aggressors off by taping CDs shiny-side-out to the middle of the glass. However, that never works. Now, thanks to a heads-up from New York Times,* I know why: This new study by College of William & Mary biologists shows that window films increase avoidance of collisions by birds but only when applied externally.
“Bird collisions with windows kill more than a billion birds per year.”
Professor John Swaddle, lead scientist of first experimental study to compare the effectiveness of window films when applied to internal versus external surfaces of double-glazed windows
The researchers randomly divided 72 zebra finches into 4 groups via a two-factor, two-level factorial that varied type of film—BirdShades (not commercially available yet) vs Haverkamp—and location on the glass surface—interior vs exterior. No worries—their ingenious flight-testing facility featured a net that prevented window-bound birds from head-on collision.
By the way, in this interview by W&M News (check out the picture of his student showing the “proper technique for holding a zebra finch”), Swaddle says that “silhouettes of animals or birds don’t tend to work in part because they’re generally too spaced out.” So, when our windows again come under attack by angry birds, I will use many CDs (putting a plentiful pile of unused and obsolete media to good use)—not just one—and duct tape them to the outside—not the inside. I just hope that the neighbors don’t complain about the blast of solar radiation going back their way.
*“Those Window Stickers to Prevent Bird Strikes? There’s a Catch.”, Catrin Einhorn, Feb. 2, 2023 (Updated Feb. 7)
See C/2022 E3 (ZTF) aka the “green comet”
Discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) nearly last March, comet C/2022 E3 features a not uncommon bright green glow caused by out-of-this world diatomic carbon (not stable on Earth). What makes E3 rare is that it last appeared 50,000 years ago when Neanderthals still roamed.
Today the comet made its closest approach; but the windchill here in Minnesota will run well below -20 F—way too cold even for an astronomy fan like me. I’m holding out for the 10th of this month when E3 will be close to Mars in the night sky and thus easy to find. However, I may settle for this amazing view provided by Portuguese astrophotographer Michael Claro taken during a spectacular disconnection event when the comet’s tail got torn away by a powerful gust of solar wind.