Male great tits choose neighbors based upon similar personalities, a new study finds.
OXFORD, England —Â Birds choose like-minded nest neighbors in the woods very similarly to how humans would go about choosing a compatible personality type for a roommate, a new study on wild great tits finds.
Researchers at Oxford University analyzed the social network structure of wild great tits (Parus major) over six breeding seasons and discovered that the males — but not the females — were very selective in their choices for next neighbors. The new study finds that male great tits are quite selective when it comes to choosing birds to surround themselves with near their nests.
“We found that males, but not females, were picky about personalities, with males opting for like-minded neighbors,” says study co-author and doctoral student Katerina Johnson of Oxford in a university news release. “Our results emphasize that social interactions may play a key role in animal decisions.”
Male great tits chose to associate with similarly-behaved males in what the researchers say is a move to defend their territories when aggression among the birds is at its peak during breeding season. Looking for opportunities to mate with female great tits, less aggressive males look to avoid nesting next to bolder and more aggressive males. On the other hand, female birds were more likely to choose their nesting location based on the attractive qualities of the male birds in the area.
“Just like students choosing their flatmates,” Johnson adds, “birds may pay more attention to who they share their living space with than simply location. Animal personalities can influence their social organization and humans are likewise known to form social networks based on shared attributes including personality.”
The researchers tested the personality traits of great tits by introducing a novel environment and analyzing how the birds respond. This is similar to humans’ individual behavior differences that remain consistent over long periods of time and throughout various situations. The bolder great tits were more likely to actively explore their new surroundings while the shier birds were more inhibited.
“This novel research finding may also help explain the evolution of personality and why individuals in a population differ in their behavior,” says Johnson. “Rather than one particular personality type being favored by natural selection as ‘the best,’ different behavioral strategies may be equally good depending on who you choose to be your friends and neighbors.”
The researchers suggest that by nesting closer to birds with similar personality traits, the birds’ chances for survival increase. Having aggressive neighbors could result in more fights between the males, but they may be able to come together to defend their nesting area from intruders.
This study was published in the journal Animal Behaviour.
Wow, even British ivory towers waste money on the bat crap crazy stuff.
HarryObrian, the study is seminal because it sheds an unflattering light on the Left’s attempt to coercively impose the “celebration of diversity” on the indigenous white Europeans in their own countries, inviting tens of millions of swarthy, monotonously black-headed, intellectually marginal, aggressive Africans, Asians, and Arabs to invade Europe and colonize it, the same Africans, Asians, and Arabs who are heard boasting that they’re going to drive the indigenous white race to extinction in their own lands, just watch them.
The races, like birds, have always preferred their own kind. And now we know it’s a law of nature. The harebrained “celebration of diversity” is a violation of that law. And we see the consequences of stuffing different races together in the same society, the havoc that celebration is wreaking in Europe and America today, race relations being worse than ever. Blacks in America physically assault whites at a 3,000% higher rate than whites blacks. Black males in America rape 30,000 white women EVERY YEAR. How many black females are raped by white men every year. Near zero.
No multi-racial society has ever worked in the history of mankind, authoritarian measures as in Singapore imposed to keep the races from each other’s throats not counting as working.
My neighbor posesses great tits.
Your other neighbor knows.
Brits know about being Tits
Some birds great tits do not associate with include flat-chested warblers, little tits, and robin red breasts.
Don’t forget the Sagging Booby, Missile Tits, and Giant Areola.
“animal behavior , birds , great tits , oxford university”
So the old saying has legs, eh?
‘Birds of a feather, flock together.”
Love
I prefer to nest with “great tits” too.
no you prefer a giant, aggressive, black cøck in your nest
Projection is not a friend of yours on the internets…
Only when it migrates from its usual nesting place in your mouth.
Racist birds. Segregating themselves so they don’t have to associate with undesirables.
Any “wild great tits” are what I consider welcome neighbors.
I guess (in general) a male bird will try to choose a neighbor who won’t mug him unless he is a mugger himself who likes getting into bar fights. One problem with that study is that a male bird will probably hang around an area where he was raised as a chick and his parents will pop out new brothers every year who most likely have a similar temperament, so the birds will live near by and act the same. It’s a family thing. My guess is you get pockets of birds that are fairly gentle and pockets of birds that are meaner.
‘Wonderfully paraphrased in a “coming of age” movie, where the central character recounts some lessons and realizations, including “Some people are just BORN with the “assh-le gene”.
I’m thinkin’ the writer just couldn’t resist great tits.
What happens when you cross breed a swallow with great tits?
Oh never mind
You get something similar to a cross between a wood pecker and a hummingbird. Definitely something to crow about.
Whereas a stork brings babies. A swallow brings none.
You are wrong. A swallow brings jewelry.
My EX?
Not to be confused with the Booby. They have blue feet.
I enjoy coming together with aggressive great tits.
And how soon before “the government” steps in and demands that they integrate WITH NON-LIKE thinking great tits…hmmm?
It’s working with African slaves SO WELL!
Great tits!
Hell, you can buy whatever size you desire now.
No such thing as a great tit, anymore.
Heretic.
Actually very true.
My screen name on TB’s SG msg board was ” Hereticus”.
đŸ™‚
GOOD CALL!