[extropy-chat] EVOLUTION: Birds learning cell ring-tones

Mike Lorrey mlorrey at yahoo.com
Wed Jul 20 04:49:03 UTC 2005


http://www.eians.com/stories/2005/07/18/18dpa.shtml

Birds imitate mobile phone ring tones   
DPA  

Moessingen (Germany), July 18 (DPA) Birds have learnt to imitate the
ring tones of the omnipresent mobile phones, say German ornithologists.


"The birds have an uncanny ability to mimic these ring tones. This has
picked up in tandem with the boom in mobile phone ownership," Richard
Schneider of the NABU bird conservation centre near the university city
of Tuebingen here said.

Jackdaws, starlings and jays were the best mimics, Schneider said
adding that even practiced birdwatchers were being fooled by the birds.

One reason for the phenomenon was that these birds were increasingly
common in the urban environment, even the relatively shy jay, he said.
"There is food and an increasing amount of green space in modern
cities."

The birds were simply adapting to their environment in imitating human
sounds in what he termed an "evolutionary playground".

Many of the more common ring tones are themselves imitations of bird
calls, so the birds are in some instances mimicking another species.

"Many birds call not only to find mates or to mark out their territory,
but sometimes also to fool other animals," Schneider said. However,
they never lose the ability to make the calls typical of their species,
he added.

Mobile phone users who have ring tones from pop music will, however,
not find themselves reaching for their phones in error when a bird
calls. The birds cannot imitate these complex melodies, only the
simpler ring tones.

- end quote-

I like the idea that birds are imitating cellphones to camouflage
themselves, as if cats and hawks are dumb enough to think that someone
left their cell phone up in a tree. I hereby predict a dramatic rise in
incidents of cell-phone assaults and maulings by cats, thinking they
are going to find a bird in there somewhere. Given the volatility of
the lithium ion batteries, we may even see some cats blowing their
heads off when biting in... Note to self: put cell phone on buzz when
hiking in mountain lion territory...
 


Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com


		
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