Bird brain, compliment, not an insult.

[Dave]

The anti-pest thing is just lucky chance I am sure. Pure serendipity!

That's not what their numbers are saying but I'm not sure there are enough numbers and I want to be amazed and you should always doubt when they give you what you want.

Bloke drops his filter fag-end, steps on it and twists his foot to ensure it is out. This action tears open the nicotine and tar (both with biocidal qualities) laden filter. Maybe not enough of either to damage, by contact, even a chick seriously but a good topical dose for a small bug.

Birdie A spots the fluff and thinks it will make good bedding.  Birdie B sees this happening and wants some him/herself, looks for more. Birdies C and D see, at different times and locations, A and B collecting more and get into the game . . . In the end they get to recognise even untorn filters and learn how to open them. There ard millions of butts around for millions of birdies everywhere, chances are the two shall meet in more than one place since filter tipped fags were first invented. 

[Bad Penny II]

The anti-pest thing is just lucky chance I am sure. Pure serendipity!

That's not what their numbers are saying but I'm not sure there are enough numbers and I want to be amazed and you should always doubt when they give you what you want.

Birdie A spots the fluff and thinks it will make good bedding. 

That's not what they're are saying.

To firm up the conclusion, Macías Garcia and his team experimented with 32 house finch nests. One day after the eggs in the nest had hatched, the researchers removed the natural nest lining and replaced it with artificial felt, to remove any parasites that might have moved in during brooding. They then added live ticks to 10 of the nests, dead ticks to another 10 and left 12 free of ticks.

They found that the adult finches were significantly more likely to add cigarette butt fibres to the nest if it contained ticks. What's more, the weight of cigarette butt material added to nests containing live ticks was, on average, 40 per cent greater than the weight of cigarette butt material added to nests containing dead ticks.

32 nests doesn't seem very many though.
It could be that birds learned prior to the cigarette butt era that adding things that smelled offensive was the best thing you could do if infested with crawlies.

They may have an innate sense of what crawlies don't like.

[Dave]

The anti-pest thing is just lucky chance I am sure. Pure serendipity!

That's not what their numbers are saying but I'm not sure there are enough numbers and I want to be amazed and you should always doubt when they give you what you want.

Birdie A spots the fluff and thinks it will make good bedding. 

That's not they're are saying.

To firm up the conclusion, Macías Garcia and his team experimented with 32 house finch nests. One day after the eggs in the nest had hatched, the researchers removed the natural nest lining and replaced it with artificial felt, to remove any parasites that might have moved in during brooding. They then added live ticks to 10 of the nests, dead ticks to another 10 and left 12 free of ticks.

They found that the adult finches were significantly more likely to add cigarette butt fibres to the nest if it contained ticks. What's more, the weight of cigarette butt material added to nests containing live ticks was, on average, 40 per cent greater than the weight of cigarette butt material added to nests containing dead ticks.

Oops, firgit that bit! 

OK, birds make associations and can learn, that is crucial,  but I bet it was serendipity in the first place. Communicating complex ideas like this, though, would surely be through observed example, not verbal language. Birds that flock and/or share mutual nesting sites woukd quivkly pick up on whatever their neighbours were up to - especially if there was an observed advantage in a new behaviour.

I would be surprised if birds actually associated dead chicks with the presence of ticks, some cannot tell the difference in size between their own eggs and those of a cuckoo - so long as it is the right colour/pattern. However they might learn that more chicks survived if filter fluff was used.  But, who am I to second guess the experts?  Just not happy with their findings, want to know even more about their methods. Itchy intuition syndrome here.

[Bad Penny II]

Oops, firgit that bit! 

OK, birds make associations and can learn, that is crucial,  but I bet it was serendipity in the first place. Communicating complex ideas like this, though, would surely be through observed example, not verbal language.

I'm continuing to think you have an anti bird bias Dave.
Song birds they are a thing, and yet you bet.

I would be surprised if birds actually associated dead chicks with the presence of ticks, some cannot tell the difference in size between their own eggs and those of a cuckoo - so long as it is the right colour/pattern.

Dave, you are a fucking anti bird Dave jocular.
My superior species thoughts often go primal, it's tits, they were made to confound me.  Enough should be enough, the extremes shouldn't be attractive to me, I blame Darwin, the internet and monogamy.

[Dave]

Oops, firgit that bit! 

OK, birds make associations and can learn, that is crucial,  but I bet it was serendipity in the first place. Communicating complex ideas like this, though, would surely be through observed example, not verbal language.

I'm continuing to think you have an anti bird bias Dave.
Song birds they are a thing, and yet you bet.

I would be surprised if birds actually associated dead chicks with the presence of ticks, some cannot tell the difference in size between their own eggs and those of a cuckoo - so long as it is the right colour/pattern.

Dave, you are a fucking anti bird Dave jocular.
My superior species thoughts often go primal, it's tits, they were made to confound me.

On the contrary! I really like birds, and not just as garlic roast chicken!

I would love to own a parrot but am not sure that I could give it the kind of committment one would need, at keast as much as a dog and far more than a cat. Over the decades I have read and watched much on psychology, sociology, ethnology etc of birds and animals as well as humans. During that time I have noticed that much observed "intelligent" behaviour has, in fact, been modified instinctive behaviour.

I am not saying that birds are incapable of learning, by result and by observation. Once a bird solves a feeder puzzle problem, by trying every possible thing it can rather than studying and analysing, it remembers the trick every time. Other birds will carefully watch and learn the trick by example. But thst first time was a mixture of determination eventual serendipity, it huts the solution by "accident" - possibly expending more energy than the peanut provided if the total of all failed attempts were added. But gaining in the long run, until that pesky human changes the puzzle and it starts over again - though it may retain something of the methodology if the puzzle is in any way similar. I watched, until mu bus came, a gull make twenty or more swoops, power climbs and fly-arounds over a busy road, dodging the vehicles, trying to pick up what looked like a single very squashed chip. OK, humans can be that silly as well...

I respect birds, even those magpies that most hate because they raid nests. Brilliant tacticians, one or more divert attention whilst another sneaks in from behind! Youngsters learn by doing, helping their parents. Similarly Harris hawks who hunt as a group, two to harry and "shepherd" the prey animal into an ambush laid by the third.

[hermes2015]

Oops, firgit that bit! 

OK, birds make associations and can learn, that is crucial,  but I bet it was serendipity in the first place. Communicating complex ideas like this, though, would surely be through observed example, not verbal language.

I'm continuing to think you have an anti bird bias Dave.
Song birds they are a thing, and yet you bet.

I would be surprised if birds actually associated dead chicks with the presence of ticks, some cannot tell the difference in size between their own eggs and those of a cuckoo - so long as it is the right colour/pattern.

Dave, you are a fucking anti bird Dave jocular.
My superior species thoughts often go primal, it's tits, they were made to confound me.

On the contrary! I really like birds, and not just as garlic roast chicken!

I would love to own a parrot but am not sure that I could give it the kind of committment one would need, at keast as much as a dog and far more than a cat. Over the decades I have read and watched much on psychology, sociology, ethnology etc of birds and animals as well as humans. During that time I have noticed that much observed "intelligent" behaviour has, in fact, been modified instinctive behaviour.

I am not saying that birds are incapable of learning, by result and by observation. Once a bird solves a feeder puzzle problem, by trying every possible thing it can rather than studying and analysing, it remembers the trick every time. Other birds will carefully watch and learn the trick by example. But thst first time was a mixture of determination eventual serendipity, it huts the solution by "accident" - possibly expending more energy than the peanut provided if the total of all failed attempts were added. But gaining in the long run, until that pesky human changes the puzzle and it starts over again - though it may retain something of the methodology if the puzzle is in any way similar. I watched, until mu bus came, a gull make twenty or more swoops, power climbs and fly-arounds over a busy road, dodging the vehicles, trying to pick up what looked like a single very squashed chip. OK, humans can be that silly as well...

I respect birds, even those magpies that most hate because they raid nests. Brilliant tacticians, one or more divert attention whilst another sneaks in from behind! Youngsters learn by doing, helping their parents. Similarly Harris hawks who hunt as a group, two to harry and "shepherd" the prey animal into an ambush laid by the third.

Dave, I would not recommend getting a parrot. You are correct: they are a huge commitment and responsibility.  My little African Grey certainly demands loads of attention and stimulation. She only sleeps in her cage - the rest of the time she roams about the apartment or hitches a ride on my shoulder when she wants to go to the kitchen for a snack. A few months ago she went out onto the balcony, returned, looked up, and said "No water". Her bath was empty. Last week in the car (she always sits on my shoulder and observes the world when I drive), my partner said that he felt like squeezing some oranges when we got home. Lulu immediately piped up and said "Juice". It has become obvious to us that she listens to conversations and often responds appropriately.