Natural History Wanderings

Black Kite, (Milvus migrans) Image via Wikipedia

Science recently had  a journal article describing how researchers have learned that Black Kites (Milvus migrans) use white plastic in their nests to show dominance.  Birds using white plastic were the superior fighters and most productive at producing offspring.  The findings were the result of studying 127 Black Kites in Doñana National Park in southwestern Spain over five years.  When the researchers offered the birds a choice of plastics, they always preferred white.  Also when the researchers put white plastic in the nests of non-dominant Black Kites they removed it (apparently not wanting to claim false dominance).   Read more at Black Kites Signal Toughness to Other Birds With Plastic in Nests – NYTimes.com.