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--Apple-Mail-1--698267969 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Jim's correct, the birds involved were the chickadee-sized blue tits=20 that commonly frequent gardens as well as woodlands in UK. We and most=20= local households had this happen to us when I was growing up there=20 (Yorkshire, 1/2 way up), many years after the first reports from the=20 south of England. At the time, the usual method of buying milk was to=20= have a contract with a company, who sent their "milkman" with a=20 clanking delivery truck round very early each morning to all the houses=20= while it was still dark, leaving one or more bottles of milk on your=20 doorstep, outside the house. This milk was not homogenized or skimmed,=20= so a layer of cream floated out on the top ~1/6 of the bottle and was=20 highly prized to put on your cornflakes. The 1-pint glass bottles=20 were made of thick glass and re-usable, but were topped only with=20 flimsy alumin(i)um foil caps, and the BTs had learned to peck a hole in=20= at least one of these and drink some of the best stuff before you got=20 to it. A countermeasure was to leave a couple of clean, empty=20 baked-bean cans outside on the doorstep, so the milkman could place=20 these protectively over the vulnerable bottle tops (that is, if you had=20= remembered to leave a hefty Christmas tip for the milkman). The reason for expanding upon this a bit is that the phenomenon is of=20 considerable interest in animal behavior circles. It's one of the few=20= clear examples cited in the behavioral literature as evidence for=20 successful socially-transmitted learning of new tricks by non-humans,=20 birds in this case. First reported from BTs on the south coast of=20 England (Isle of Wight?), the behavior subsequently spread outwards and=20= northwards in circles over a number years, trackable through widespread=20= local newspaper reports of this unusual behavior (we still had lot of=20 local newspapers then). The idea was that one particular bird=20 discovered the valuable resource on the south coast somehow, presumably=20= by accident, and then its several offspring learned the trick from it. =20= Then those offspring's offspring learned from their parents and so on,=20= so the behavior gradually expanded out to cover the entire UK from a=20 single origin, as the behaviorally clued-in, cream-advantaged birds=20 migrated out to claim new territories: socially-transmitted learning. =20= I don't know what the current status of this behaviour is, but guess=20= that milk distribution has changed quite a bit since then and has=20 become more supermarket-based, as in N. America, thwarting the BTs. =20 Perhaps someone else on NNS has lived in UK more recently and knows=20 whether this behavior still exists, or else has gone extinct. Steve, Halifax On 7-Feb-07, at 11:36 AM, Jim Wolford wrote: > Just a quick addition to Wild Flora's bottom comment, I believe it=20 > was in Britain and the small birds were blue tits (chickadees). =A0And=20= > when the behaviour was first "invented", it spread very quickly, at=20 > least among the blue tits. =A0Cheers from Jim in Wolfville > ---------- > From: Wild Flora <herself@wildflora.com> > Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2007 20:03:39 -0400 > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > Subject: RE: [NatureNS] Peanut butter (was Thrush) > > Peanut butter is very popular with birds that visit feeders. In the=20 > winter, I buy large jars of it in the bulk food department, then use=20= > it to fill a feeder designed to hold prepackaged suet. At my house=20 > this winter peanut butter is popular with the chickadees and a single=20= > red-breasted nuthatch, and I have known it to attract several=20 > varieties of woodpeckers. > =A0=A0=A0As a general rule high-fat foods such as peanut butter and = suet=20 > serve as a substitute for insects, which are also high in fat, when=20 > insects are unavailable. However, as a practical matter the birds that=20= > eat a combination of vegetable matter and insects, such as chickadees,=20= > seem to be far more willing to accept insect-substitutes than are=20 > birds that eat insects exclusively. > =A0=A0FYI, at one time people were reluctant to offer straight peanut=20= > butter to birds because there was a widespread belief that the birds=20= > could choke on it. However, as far as I know nobody was ever able to=20= > offer any evidence that this actually occurred. Most people who've=20 > looked into the matter no longer consider it a serious concern. > =A0=A0I've never heard of anyone deliberately feeding dairy products = to=20 > birds. However, I did once read that back in the days when milkmen=20 > left glass bottles of milk on doorsteps small birds would peck them=20 > open to get at the cream floating on the top. > --Apple-Mail-1--698267969 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/enriched; charset=ISO-8859-1 Jim's correct, the birds involved were the chickadee-sized blue tits that commonly frequent gardens as well as woodlands in UK. We and most local households had this happen to us when I was growing up there (Yorkshire, 1/2 way up), many years after the first reports from the south of England. At the time, the usual method of buying milk was to have a contract with a company, who sent their "milkman" with a clanking delivery truck round very early each morning to all the houses while it was still dark, leaving one or more bottles of milk on your doorstep, outside the house. This milk was not homogenized or skimmed, so a layer of cream floated out on the top ~1/6 of the bottle and was highly prized to put on your cornflakes. The 1-pint glass bottles were made of thick glass and re-usable, but were topped only with flimsy alumin(i)um foil caps, and the BTs had learned to peck a hole in at least one of these and drink some of the best stuff before you got to it. A countermeasure was to leave a couple of clean, empty baked-bean cans outside on the doorstep, so the milkman could place these protectively over the vulnerable bottle tops (that is, if you had remembered to leave a hefty Christmas tip for the milkman). =20 The reason for expanding upon this a bit is that the phenomenon is of considerable interest in animal behavior circles. It's one of the few clear examples cited in the behavioral literature as evidence for successful socially-transmitted learning of new tricks by non-humans, birds in this case. First reported from BTs on the south coast of England (Isle of Wight?), the behavior subsequently spread outwards and northwards in circles over a number years, trackable through widespread local newspaper reports of this unusual behavior (we still had lot of local newspapers then). The idea was that one particular bird discovered the valuable resource on the south coast somehow, presumably by accident, and then its several offspring learned the trick from it. Then those offspring's offspring learned from their parents and so on, so the behavior gradually expanded out to cover the