"Hummingbirds Find Protection Building Nests under Hawks."Hummingbirds
Find Protection Building Nests under Hawks. Web. 10 Sept. 2015
Hummingbirds Find Protection Building Nests
under Hawks.
John George
Brakatselos
Studies have shown that
the hummingbird population seems to choose nests directly underneath or close
to hawks. Why would they do this? The advantage of living near a huge predator
like the hawk is that it provides substantial protection from predators that
are proportionate to the size of the hummingbird. Nests are the main breeding
ground and shelter for hummingbirds and as an animal it is the most important
and most guarded possession for them to reproduce and protect offspring. In
their study of 342 hummingbird nests revealed two strong patterns: hummingbirds
prefer to nest in association with hawk nests and realize greater reproductive
success when the associated nest is occupied by a hawk. Only 20% of hummingbird
nests were built in plots without active hawk nests. Many scientists believe
that the hummingbirds are not aware of the reasoning behind their nesting
choices and have simply adapted to it through trial and error. When they would
try to find another nesting ground with less success they would end up
returning back to the areas where the hawks resided. However hawk nests aren't
immune to poaching either. Some animals climb trees and eat their eggs. If this
happens, the hawks will abandon their nests taking with them the protection
they have been affording the hummingbirds below.
This
is one of the many examples of how animals help one another survive in their
natural habitats. I feel as though sometimes animals are a lot smarter than we
give them credit for. We even use the term “bird brain” as a way of calling
someone stupid. Meanwhile birds are coming up with using the old “the enemy of
my enemy is my friend” scenario all on their own. There was another case where
a dolphin was trained to bring garbage out of the pool in exchange for treats.
One time it found a piece of paper which it would take small pieces of to reap
in the benefits. It just goes to show that when something has a set of
priorities, whether human or animal, it will do whatever it can to obtain what
it needs.
I
thought that this article did a very good job at providing evidence for its
claims. It provided numerous statistics about these scenarios and exactly how
these aspects were tested out in the real world. It is important to know where
and how these facts were verified before believing in them. There are many ways
in which an experiment can have significant confounding variables that
invalidate the data. One thing I thought could be improved was it could have
connected it to the world more and explained why these findings were
significant to and important to record.
Dear John George,
ReplyDeleteI think the article you chose was very interesting because you don't hear very much about humming birds so I it was unique! One aspect I liked of your review is that you went into detail about the humming birds and their techniques to help their rate of survival, but then discussed examples of this in other species in less details. It made the argument seem much more legitimate when there were multiple examples. Another aspect I liked was how you used statistics to prove that hummingbirds usually live near hawks nests. I also liked how you included the part about how they just happened to chose the hawk nests through "trial and error". It relates to Darwins theory of evolution and how where they are more successful they are more likely to live.
I am a bit confused by the sentence "the hawks will abandon their nests taking with them the protection they have been affording the hummingbirds below" because I think affording is being used in a weird way. Instead, you could have said providing or giving. I think the dolphin story is interesting but the connection to the hummingbirds should have been more clear. I'm not sure how the hummingbirds living under hawks nests has to do with dolphins collecting paper for treats.
This review taught me that animals are smarter than we give them credit for and that survival of the fittest can still be seen today. Hummingbirds have realized the advantages to living next to hawks so more and more of their species do it. Dolphins understand how one piece of garbage gets them a treat so if they bring the garbage over in smaller pieces they will get more treats. Overall I really liked your reflection and summary of the article and thought the topic was unique.
http://phys.org/news/2015-09-hummingbirds-hawks.html
Delete"Hummingbirds Find Protection Building Nests under Hawks."Hummingbirds Find Protection Building Nests under Hawks. Web. 10 Sept. 2015
John George,
ReplyDeleteYour essay was an enjoyable read. I think one aspect of your writing I liked was your essay's presentation. Having the font in bond and making a clear distinction between each paragraph, made it not only easier to follow, but easier to digest as a reader. Also your incorporation of statistics like "342 hummingbird nests revealed two important factors" and "20% of hummingbird nests" aren't found near hawk nests, were great points in your summary. Usually people have a tendency to over-generalize the article while summarizing, but you managed to get the overall gist of the passage and include crucial specifics that help prove the original article's explanation. Another aspect I think you did well in essay was maintaining a natural flow throughout your essay with rhetorical questions and smooth transitions from your summary to your ideas. It's hard not to sound dull when summarizing, but you did a good job avoiding it.
However, there were some components that I found lacking within your essay. It would have been better if you incorporated that little piece about the dolphin and picking up garbage. You suddenly mentioned this piece of information during your reaction and I was slightly puzzled as I thought the article was only about hummingbirds and their relationship with hawks. If you introduced the dolphin information in your summary and explained what it had to do with hummingbirds I think that would have strengthened your piece. Another minor tweak might be explaining why the hawk isn't attacking the hummingbird. Because naturally a hawk is a hunting bird, and seeking easy prey a nearby hummingbird nest seems to be counterintuitive unless it was explained otherwise. So offering more information may have helped, but other than that your article was really interesting and great.
I have to admit this relationship between hawks and hummingbirds is an odd one. This interaction between two species is interesting because like you said, usually we don't ponder how other animals can rely on each other just as the hummingbird relies on the hawk, at least regarding nesting areas. It seems to be a very important ecological component, one that I didn't really pay attention to until reading this article.
Hyperlink:
http://phys.org/news/2015-09-hummingbirds-hawks.html
Citation:
"Hummingbirds Find Protection Building Nests under Hawks."Hummingbirds Find Protection Building Nests under Hawks. Web. 10 Sept. 2015
John George,
ReplyDeleteYou did many things well when writing a summary of this article, the most important of which is that you touched upon hummingbirds. What awesome creatures they are, my own fascination of them makes me enjoy reading this even more. Besides the topic however there were many other things you did well. I love your incorporation of common terms as you analyzed the information for us. I felt like it really made the whole thing much more interesting. I also really like your incorporation of statistics. Instead of just summarizing the general thoughts of the paper you pulled out statistics out of the study. “Only 20% of hummingbirds…” being a prime example of this. While it was well done, there were things that you could have done better. First I think the sidetracked story about dolphins, while nice and interesting, does not tie to the rest of the piece all that well or at least the connection could have been better integrated. I also think that adding some more scientific vocabulary about the humming bird and the hawks relationship might have been nice. Also just touching on the fact that hawks do not eat hummingbirds might have been helpful at the start as this information is not directly straightforward. I thought this article was very interesting and I learned a few things from it. Just simply the unlikely dependence the hummingbird has on a bird who should hunt them in all intuition is fascinating. All in all, a job well done.