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Come back to this page each day to read another entry from Frederick R. Gehlbach's almanac of suburban natural and unnatural history, "Messages from the Wild," which chronicles the world of a forested ravine in central Texas.
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As we pass them on the street this morning, European starlings on a utility wire imitate red-tailed hawks. They forage in the countryside and might have seen or heard a redtail there, because the ravine's wintering individual isn't back yet. Do starlings differentiate among potential predators? After walking the dog home, I return alone to the garrulous starlings without evoking mimicry, while on another day with our Labrador retriever, they mimic. I'll have to try this with blue jays. Despite their tendency to evict native nest-cavity users, I have to admire starlings who learned to trade their European hawks for ours after being introduced here a century ago. |
Frederick R. Gehlbach is Professor Emeritus of Biology and Environmental Studies at Baylor University. His ecological studies have taken him from New Zealand to Slovakia and, in the Americas, from Alaska and Newfoundland to Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. His research interests include the life-history strategies of small owls, small burrowing snakes and urban wildlife ecology.
From MESSAGES FROM THE WILD: AN ALMANAC OF SUBURBAN NATURAL AND UNNATURAL HISTORY by Frederick R. Gehlbach, Copyright © 2002. Courtesy of the University of Texas Press.
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