Wildlife

Medicinal Sparrows

An international team of researchers says it has found that a species of sparrow intentionally uses medicinal herbs to ensure the health of its offspring. Such behavior was earlier thought to be restricted to only a small number of animals, mainly higher primates.

William Feeney of Australia’s Griffith University says russet sparrows use wormwood leaves to build nests. “The phytochemical compounds within wormwood leaves reduced infestation of the nest parasites, which results in the production of healthier chicks,” said Feeney.

Writing in the journal Current Biology, he and colleagues say that the birds seek out those leaves and adjust how many are in their nests through their sense of smell.

Ray Scanning

Japanese scientists have proposed a novel way to map the ocean’s vast unexplored seabed by equipping stingrays and electric rays with ultrasonic pingers and tiny cameras to collect data. “Electric rays and stingrays are benthic animals, meaning that they spend most of their time swimming around the ocean floor in deep places,” said Yo Tanaka of the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research.

By placing cameras on rays and linking the timing of the recorded video to the timing and locations determined by the pingers, the researchers believe they can create accurate maps of the ocean floor. Tanaka says trial experiments confirm the scheme is practical.

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