11–20 of 29 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am sure they do already, they breath, eat and drink from the same planet as us.
I imagine that most birds, especially those in the city, don't live long enough for cancer to be a significant cause of death.
Lest tobacco manufacturers try to trumpet how compounds in cigarettes help protect urban bird nests from parasites, Suárez-Rodríguez warned at the very end of the article that carcinogens and pesticides in the butts may have negative effects on the birds which we don't yet know about.
Apologies: downvoted, when I meant to upvote. Can someone please remedy that?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I imagine that most birds, especially those in the city, don't live long enough for cancer to be a significant cause of death.
I imagine if your diet consists of things like "french fries sitting in a puddle of antifreeze and oil leakage from the side of the road" you could get cancer quite quickly :-)
Not too surprising, as both smoke, and many different herbs, are natural pest repellents. Bay leaves, lavender, thyme, etc., might do a good job here too, but of course cannot compete with the availability of pre-shredded tobacco bits in the city.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I imagine if your diet consists of things like "french fries sitting in a puddle of antifreeze and oil leakage from the side of the road" you could get cancer quite quickly :-)
I'm not really convinced that's the cause of cancer...
I'm amazed at what is being claimed in the headline/description in this article versus what the paper actually has demonstrated (from the brief description in the article/reading the abstract online) - I actually wondered whether the original poster was intending to highlight this disparity. First, the conclusion of the researchers is that having more cigarette butts in a nest correlates with having fewer parasitic m…
The article linked to another nature article about birds selectively choosing herbs that repel parasites to line nests, and using scent to know when to refresh them.
Given that cigarette butts are effective and that birds are known to pick nest material carefully, the conclusion that birds are introducing them intentionally isn't unreasonable.
I'm amazed at what is being claimed in the headline/description in this article versus what the paper actually has demonstrated (from the brief description in the article/reading the abstract online) - I actually wondered whether the original poster was intending to highlight this disparity. First, the conclusion of the researchers is that having more cigarette butts in a nest correlates with having fewer parasitic m…
It's kind of surprising that a used cigarette butt (as opposed to, say, unburned tobacco) holds enough nicotine to act as an effective anti-parasite material for a nest. It's at least a non-obvious result. The article linked to another nature article about birds selectively choosing herbs that repel parasites to line nests, and using scent to know when to refresh them. Given that cigarette butts are effective and tha…