this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2023
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Nature and Gardening
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I've had some experience with seabird and waterfowl nesting research so this caught my attention. I haven't come across anything like this personally, but I've only ever worked with larger birds with higher nest building costs and greater territorial behavior across seasons.
Apparently this is a common behavior with some bird species, and it's baffled scientists for a while.
I managed to find a specific explanation for American Robins (excerpt below). I can't guarantee the validity of this author's 'supernormal stimuli' explanation, but it's a compelling one:
I can see your reply just fine, and the supernormal stimuli explanation mIakes sense. Also, I think I found my answer here:
Like I said, the chicks are about nine days old, so the mother's behavior appears to be normal. That's a relief!
Yay, happy news :)
If valid, this is fascinating.
Really interesting, thanks for sharing
That's a really informative and interesting answer, thanks for sharing all the details.
Also, I'm on Lemmy (via lemm.ee) and I saw your comment with no issue, just looks like any other comment to me.