Male bowerbirds just can't abide red. So in this clever, clever new experiment , Keagy et al (2009) annoyed them by placing red objects in their nests. Only some objects were harder to remove than others (a test of bowerbird braininess--an IQ test for birds, the Stanford-Birdet).
They then counted number of bonks for each male. And brainy bowerbirds bonked best, giving hope to nerds everywhere. Keagy, J., Savard, J-F, and Borgia, G. Male satin bowerbird problem-solving ability predicts mating success. 2009. Animal Behaviour, in press http://www.terpconnect.umd.edu/~jkeagy/Keagy_et_al_2009.pdf [free!] And to assuage the tender sensibilities of Mike P., please note my use of the joyful "bonk" euphemism in place of the naughty F-word. Come to think of it, I like "sneaky bonkers" even better than the original. Not that we'll see it anytime soon in a textbook. Stephen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: sbl...@ubishops.ca 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
