Water bathing alters threat perception in starlings

Water bathing alters threat perception in starlings.

The majority of bird taxa perform water bathing, but little is known about the adaptive value of this behaviour. If bathing is important for feather maintenance then birds that have not bathed should have poorer feather condition, compromised escape ability and therefore increased responsiveness to cues of predation. We conducted two experiments examining the behaviour of captive starlings resp...

Water bathing alters the speed - accuracy trade - off of 1 escape flights in European starlings

Bathing Water Quality and Health Implications

Considerable controversy exists with respect to water quality at bathing beaches. In the UK, South Wales beaches appear to be at the forefront regarding these views. An exhaustive study investigating water quality and health was carried out at Barry Island, Wales during the summer tourist season. The beach is a very popular holiday resort and attracts some 850,000 during the summer months. It i...

Ultraviolet colour perception in European starlings and Japanese quail.

Whereas humans have three types of cone photoreceptor, birds have four types of single cones and, unlike humans, are sensitive to ultraviolet light (UV, 320-400 nm). Most birds are thought to have either a violet-sensitive single cone that has some sensitivity to UV wavelengths (for example, many non-passerine species) or a single cone that has maximum sensitivity to UV (for example, oscine pas...

Threat Modulates Perception of Looming RUNNING HEAD: Threat Modulates Perception of Looming Threat Modulates Perception of Looming Visual Stimuli