• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Trending Worldwide
  • Careers

Bom Boh

enthusiasm for knowledge

Ad example

Birds use cigarette butts for chemical warfare against ticks

by David Walker Leave a Comment

ShareTweet

Is this a cigarette habit with some benefits? A species of urban bird seems to harness the toxic chemicals in cigarette butts in its fight against nest parasites – although there is a downside to the practice.

Constantino Macías Garcia at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and his colleagues, have spent several years studying the curious cigarette habit in urban house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus). Initial evidence hinted that nicotine and other chemicals in the butts might help deter insect pests from moving into the nests – nicotine does have anti-parasite properties – but it wasn’t conclusive.

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.

Innovative thinking

The results suggest that the finches are using the cigarette butts to “medicate” their nests against the ticks, says Macías Garcia. ‘‘Ectoparasites such as ticks and mites cause damage to finches – for example, eating their feathers and sucking their blood,” he says.

“It’s fascinating, and an exciting example of animals being innovative and making use of the materials available to them,” says Steve Portugal at Royal Holloway, University of London.

However, Macías Garcia’s earlier studies suggest the habit is harmful too. “The butts cause [genetic] damage to finches by interfering with cell division, which we assessed by looking at their red blood cells,” he says.

“I think the anti-parasite effects the cigarette butts provide must outweigh any negative problems they cause,” says Portugal. “Alternatively, the genotoxic effects take longer to manifest, and the adult birds aren’t aware of any problem.”

Facebook Comments Box

Filed Under: Animal Tagged With: anti-parasite properties, birds, Carpodacus mexicanus, cell division, chemicals, cigarette butts, cigarette habit, dead ticks, ectoparasites, genetic damage, insect pests, live ticks, medicate nests, natural pesticide, nest parasites, nests, nicotine, urban bird, urban house finches

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

More to See

Wait, Why Are Eggplants Called Eggplants?

By David Walker

Deep-Sea Snail Builds Its Own Ironclad Suit of Armor. But Even That Can’t Protect It From Ocean Mining

By David Walker

Ancient Armadillo the Size of a Car Discovered in Argentina

By David Walker

Acorn woodpecker

By David Walker

The History of Khara-Khoto

By David Walker

Service dog gets his own honorary diploma after helping owner through college

By David Walker

10 Mysterious Things Found Trapped in Ice

By David Walker

Footer

Bom Boh

We Love Animals give you the news that truly matters to you. Read, look and share the things you are interested in. Welcome!

Recent

  • This 144-Year-Old Wisteria In Japan Looks Like A Pink Sky
  • Service dog gets his own honorary diploma after helping owner through college
  • Rescued Baby Elephant Has The Most Adorable First Bath
  • Horseshoe crab
  • Areni-1 shoe

Search

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in