Welcome back to this blog! I hope you had a great spring break, and for those who did not have a spring break, I hope you've been having a great life! Let me tell you, adjusting back to my work at Liberty Wildlife was time-consuming. I had to read all my documents and notes over again to remember what I wanted to work on, and then I also had less time for research because I was helping around the site more, so this whole week is pretty much a big blob of blurriness. That being said, I'll try to make this post interesting, but I'm not sure how much I can actually report on about my research.
So, for starters, if you remember from last week (or the week before last week), I talked about general behavior in wild American Kestrels. One thing I said was how kestrels go back to the same nesting site every year, which I thought was really cool (obviously there is something very important about the nesting site then, so keep that in mind when I bring up my next point). It's known that the kestrels are now a "human-tolerant" species, which means they've become more comfortable living in urban areas around humans, and have adapted to meet all their necessities in these environments. However, recent studies have been done that show kestrels living specifically in urban areas are abandoning their nests.
A link to one study is here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12103/full
A fun statistic:
36% of kestrel nesting attempts failed and 88% of failures occurred during incubation. Kestrels nesting in higher disturbance areas were 9.9 times more likely to fail than kestrels nesting in lower disturbance areas. Habitat and clutch initiation date did not explain reproductive outcome.
(Also, side note: my laptop was "confiscated" by the Geek Squad because I foolishly unconsciously decided I wanted to see what would happen if I spilled water on my keyboard (answer: nothing good), so I lost all my bookmarks and downloads that I saved for this project....so I'm sorry. I'm using an old laptop right now, but I'll be getting the one that actually has things on it back in about two weeks.)
Okay, back to other things. So, kestrels are abandoning their nests when they should not be doing that. Why? Well, this is something that I do plan to go further into. One of the spectacular things about animal behavior is that most things are never known for sure. It's a lot of logical analysis with some speculation and much observation, but we can't really go up to the animal and ask them, "Why do you do what you do?" so we're stuck with what we got. So, you know, that's unfortunate, but oh well. My hypothesis for now is that this new change has something to do with their finicky diet (so they either might be hunting someplace far from the nest to get the food they need or they could be actually getting hurt from the diet they are forced to have in the city) or (and especially in Arizona) the kestrels might be abandoning the nests in the city because it gets too hot and kestrels (though they can live in the desert) have their limits just like us.
Yeah, so expect that one day. Goodness, I can't believe it's already Week 6. We've reached and crossed the halfway point, and there is no looking back. I miss things already. No, enough sadness, let's talk about my week, because everyone wants to hear about that!
So basically we got some new animals this week. For some weird reason, there was a huge influx in hummingbirds this week, so I don't know what going on with those guys out there, but it seems they need some assistance with their lives. Here's some pictures of the hummingbirds and a hatchling hummingbird:
This little guy's head is up to show that it's hungry Also, they're supposed to look like that. Don't worry. |
We also got a juvenile owl brought in and it was super fluffy, so that was tons of fun.
CC: Pieter Mead Fun Fact: Apparently, he also went to BASIS Scottsdale in middle school, so random coincidences there. |
This animal is absolutely adorable. And it's the only mammal covered in scales (fun fact #1) .
2) The scales are made of keratin, just like our finger nails, and make up 20 per cent of their body weight.
3) The mammal can consume up to 20,000 ants a day.
4) Pangolins can close their ears and nostrils using strong muscles. This helps protect them from ant attacks.
5) They have long, sticky tongues, which are often longer than their body and attached near its pelvis and last pair of ribs. If a pangolin fully extends its tongue, it is longer than the animal’s head and body! I mean, I can't even touch my nose with my tongue, so this is pretty impressive for me.
6) Pangolins don't have teeth, so they can’t chew. Instead, they have keratinous spines in their stomach and swallow stones that help them grind up their food in much the same manner as a bird’s gizzard.
(Brought to you by "9 Amazing Pangolin Facts" on Wildlife WorldWide)
There ya go!! A bunch of stuff to keep you satisfied for the week. I hope you enjoyed my post, but if you didn't, I apologize greatly and I'll do better next time. For now, have a nice life, and here's some bad advice that you should not take seriously please (I can't afford to buy you a new phone):
Magnify your phone's screen by putting it in a glass of water! |
Hey Korina! This was such an amusing post (as usual) :D I love how there's so many different things happening, and it keeps me on my toes! I'm so so so sorry to hear about your laptop :( In terms of the kestrels leaving their nests, do you think it could have something to do with humans (even if they are human tolerant)? We are always changing our behaviors to animals, so idk, could we be doing something different now that is scaring them away? Thank you, and I can't wait for next week's post :D
ReplyDeleteHey Saleena! I'm glad my randomness gives you something to look forward too, and yeah, I'm really hoping I get my laptop back because this replacement one is giving me a lot of trouble. To answer your question, I think it's definitely extremely probable that humans are doing something to make the kestrels leave their nest, whether it be directly or indirectly. Of course, I'll have to do much more research to find out what exactly the problem is (and even then, I can't guarantee that I will find out in the span of four weeks), and then I will hopefully come up with a solution that appeases all parties. Thanks for commenting, and I can't wait to see your next post!
DeleteHey Korina! As always, I enjoyed your post- your humor makes it super fun to read. First off, that juvenile owl is extremely adorable. Secondly, what do nesting kestrels eat, and is there a decrease in their prey that could be causing abandonment (if there's any correlation). Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Malia! I'm glad you enjoy my posts, because I try to make them as entertaining as possible. If you remember from my Week 4 post, American kestrels have a pretty strange raptor diet where they eat rodents in the winter and insects in the summer (I hypothesized that this switch was so they can stay warmer during the winter), and I have been studying how the kestrel's diet changes when it lives in the city, so I am hoping prey availability will be a factor. Thanks so much for commenting, and I hope you continue to enjoy my blog!
DeleteHey Korina! Sucks you had such a busy week coming back from Spring Break. Seems like your week was pretty rough. Dropping water on anything electronic is never good! But besides that, I have a question pertaining kestrels. What is their "finicky diet." Also, where do you think they could migrate to if the heat is too much for them here in Arizona. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHey Kasi! Yeah, I too wish that my week hadn't been that busy, and that my water never touched my laptop. But hey, at least I still get to write new posts, right?! Anyway, if you remember from my Week 4 post, American kestrels have a pretty strange raptor diet where they eat rodents in the winter and insects in the summer (I hypothesized that this switch was so they can stay warmer during the winter because their metabolism would be working faster). Kestrels are extremely adaptable, so they live throughout all of the US. Because of this, I'd believe that kestrels that migrate to anywhere where the temperature suits them, but perhaps stay in the city due to the easy access of food. Anyway, I should learn more about it soon. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteHi Korina! The gif with Daniel Radcliffe pretty much summarizes my entire life and I love it. It's hard to get back in the swing of things but I'm sure you did awesome. That young owl is also so adorable, and I am jealous you got to work with it! How did you pick Pangolin's for this week's animal? They are so unique. Can't wait for next week!
ReplyDeleteHey Julia! I know, I saw that Daniel Radcliffe gif and I felt the exact same way. And yeah, that owl was so fluffy; I couldn't handle it. And I'm glad you asked about the pangolin! Well, really the pangolin got the most votes on the poll, but I chose to put pangolin as one of the options because my friends and I were saying that Robert's last name (Pangilinan) reminded us of pangolin, so while I was creating the new poll, I thought, "Which mammal should I do this week?" and I remembered the pangolin and chose that one. Anyway, that's the fun story behind that. Thanks for commenting, and I can't wait to read your next post!
DeleteHey Korina, your hypothesis for why Kestrels are abandoning their nest seems like it could be correct! I was wondering who determines whether a species is "human tolerant" and what statistics they possibly look at? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHey Jacob! I'm glad you support my hypothesis! To answer your question, a species is for the most part labeled as human tolerant if the species is observed to have adapted to new stresses (i.e. cars, noises), food sources, predators, and threats in urban and suburban areas. I'm not sure if there's some statistic the species has to fulfill to become "human tolerant", but I'm definitely going to be studying more about it, so I might answer that question in a later post. Thanks for commenting, and have a nice day!
DeleteHey Korina! It's unfortunate that you had such a busy week coming back, but you must've gotten used to it at BASIS at least. My question this week is what is the difference between "human tolerant" and domesticated. I know there are some animals that are not meant to be domesticated, but could a "human tolerant" species eventually become domesticated? Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Kyle! Yeah, BASIS has definitely prepared me for the chaos of the real world, that much is for sure. Also, as always, you ask a great question. A domesticated species is one that humans raise themselves so the animal can fulfill some purpose (company, food, transportation), while a human tolerant species is still considered wild, but can survive well in a human-populated area. I think there's definitely a chance that human tolerant species could become domesticated. For example, wolves were less afraid of humans and stayed closer to their camps, and over time the wolves developed utility, initially as guards and soon thereafter as hunters, an attribute tuned by artificial selection. Now, we know domesticated wolves as dogs (though there are people who have "wolf hybrids"). Well, I hope that answered your question well enough. Thanks for commenting, and I hope you continue to enjoy my blog!
DeleteHey Korina! I am so sorry to hear about your computer, but extremely happy to hear about the hummingbirds. those things are so cute. I do think it is very interesting how the Kestrals are becoming more comfterble around humans. Are any other bird species like that? Can't wait to read what you have next week.
ReplyDeleteHey Lauren! I too think that the hummingbirds are adorable! There are many bird species that are considered human tolerant! Interestingly, I read this study that found out that larger bird species are actually more tolerant than smaller ones (they measured tolerance through flight initiation distance — how close you can get to an animal before it flies, runs or scampers away). For example, the hummingbird was much less tolerant than the seagulls or pelicans or red-tailed hawks. Anyway, I think that answered your question. Thanks for commenting, and I hope you continue to enjoy my blog!
DeleteHi Korina! Glad to see that you're back! Sorry to hear about the laptop, i'm sure it's in good hands with the geek squad. Interesting to hear about the classification of a human tolerant species, I didn't know there were those kinds of classifications, but that is good that those exist. That is so cool to see that you get to work with the animals. So with the Kestrel, is habitat loss the reason for them not returning to their nests, and in turn that causes population loss? Thank you! Can't wait to read more on where your research takes you!
ReplyDeleteHey Sri! I'm not exactly sure if habitat loss is the direct reason for the birds not returning to their nests. For example, the habitat loss may have leaded to them nesting in cities, which would then lead to them abandoning their nests, but as I said before, this is all just hypothesis. I have to do more research and read through this article I just found that thoroughly explains the body temperature of falcons, so that'll be fun! Thanks for commenting, and I can't wait to read more of your blog!
DeleteHi Korina! Great job with your project! I was wondering however, why have the kestrels been coming and living in more urbanized places?
ReplyDeleteHi Korina! I was wondering if you knew whether American Kestrels followed similar patterns of abandoning their nest in other locations across America. If this was the case, then the reason would likely be their diet rather than the climate. I thought the fact that the pangolin was the only mammal covered in scales was really interesting. Sorry about your laptop, and best of luck with the rest of your research!
ReplyDeleteHi Korina and welcome back! Like I said before I loved all the pictures and the different gifs but I was just wondering why were the kestrels suddenly abandoning their nests? Was it because of human impact or just of their own accord?
ReplyDeleteGlad you're back! I like all the good stuff you're up to, keep it up! I was curious whether or not you could look up population rates of GHO and AmK, and see if years with a flux of GHO resulted in a significant decline in AmK?
ReplyDeleteAlso, do the kestrels abandon their nests while nesting, or do they just not return? There is quite a difference and I'd like to know.
Keep up the hard work Korina!