Some birds have an eye for leftover food in cafes. Which cafes do birds
prefer? Birds, according to new research, prefer eating scraps of food from
cafes that they have an ancient relationship with. New Scientist (December 4,
2015) says birds may be doing what their ancestors have done for millions of
years.
Paul Haemig, animal ecologist at the Governing Board of Jonkoping Province
in Sweden, visited 80 cafes and restaurants in southern Sweden to observe birds
eating. He recorded thousands of visits from birds at these restaurants and
cafes, mostly Eurasian jackdaws, wagtails, sparrows, and herring gulls.
Naturally, birds prefer al fresco
dining (eating outside). Birds prefer relaxed staff with slow service,
especially in clearing away food from people’s plates when they have finished
eating. So the cafes birds prefer have slow plate-clearing habits. That enables
birds to swoop down and eat the leftover food on the plates.
The shape of the food is important too. Eurasian jackdaws prefer long
French fries, whereas herring gulls prefer hot dogs.
Haemig noticed only 13 species of birds eating at cafes – out of more than
500 species of birds in Sweden. These 13 species belong to only 5 clades. The
white wagtail and the house sparrow, for example, are closely related. They are
frequent cafe eaters.
Haemig thinks that the behaviour of birds going to cafes has evolved over
time. In the principal clade the behaviour evolved earlier than humans because
the species in the clade separated genetically before humans emerged. Therefore
he thinks the association between bird and a particular cafe is ancient,
stemming from its ancestors. Other scientists think the bird behaviour of
eating leftover food is opportunistic, not an ancient association with the
restaurant. See it, eat it!
Haemig’s research appears in the Biodiversity
Data Journal, DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.3.e6360.
Image credit: Agencja Fotograficzna Caro/Alamy Stock
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