Baby European Rollers' unique defense

Spanish researchers have discovered that baby European Rollers have an unconventional method of deterring potential predators. The young birds will "vomit a smelly orange liquid when scared by predators." The act serves two purposes. First, the stinky puke may disgust predators from further harassing or attacking the nestlings. Second, the smell serves as a signal to the parent birds that the nest is in danger. The parent birds approach the nest with extra caution when the babies have vomited. Not exactly cute -- but pretty neat, right? Read more about the discovery here: Bird in the hand is worth... ew, is that vomit?.

Baby European Rollers' unique defense

Comments

Be the first to comment

Comments with links or HTML will be deleted. Your comment will be published pending approval.
Your email address will not be published

The Northern Emerald Toucanet: A Bright Green Wonder in the Cloud Forests of Central America

The Northern Emerald Toucanet, a small species of toucan, is the latest addition to our Birdorable collection. This charming bird is a vibrant splash of color in the mountain forests where it resides, stretching across parts of Mexico and Central...

Kicking Off the 14th Annual Birdorable Bonanza with the White-tailed Eagle

Today marks the exciting start of our 14th annual Birdorable Bonanza, where we introduce 10 new birds to our collection. The celebration begins today and will continue through December 14th. Kicking off this year's bonanza is the majestic White-tailed Eagle, an...

Species profile: Black-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher

This week, we’ve been celebrating the world’s kingfishers! There are about 90 species of kingfisher in the world. These darling birds are often colorful, and they can be found all around the...

2015 Bonanza Bird #24: Bulwer's Pheasant

Our Birdorable Bonanza: 2015 Advent Edition is starting to wind down. Today, on Christmas Eve, we reveal our second-to-last Bonanza bird: the Bulwer's Pheasant! Bulwer's Pheasants are wildly plumaged chicken-sized birds endemic to Borneo in southeast Asia. They are found in highland tropical...