Birds use cigarette butts for chemical warfare against ticks

[Judi Lynn]

26 June 2017




Parasites lost?
JerryFriedman/CC BY-SA 4.0


By Natasha Khaleeq

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.

More:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2138655-birds-use-cigarette-butts-for-chemical-warfare-against-ticks/

[d_r]

1. That is crazy

but serious anthropomorphism in the last sentence of the article.

[Loki Liesmith]

2. That's kind of repulsive.

[Warpy]

3. It seems to work, though, and finches are smarter

than we realized. Their chicks will survive to flee the nest and the parent birds will often migrate, reducing the amount of exposure to the toxins. The toxins would only damage permanent resident birds, the species has both habits.

I think it's pretty slick, TBH. Anything that gets rid of disgusting cigarette litter and does some good in the process is fine by me.

[Loki Liesmith]

7. I get it

I've always found cigarette butts disgusting though. This takes it to the next level.

[Duppers]

5. As is much of nature.

Especially all parasites.

Ask a deist why god created these repulsive things.

[Loki Liesmith]

6. The answer is that he's a bastard

[Duppers]

8. 😁

I actually prefer asshole.

[Duppers]

4. Quite interesting.

Further proving the intelligence and adaptability of birds.

Obviously finches do not eat ticks.