Vicki Powys wrote:
> But here's a case where the singing response didn't seem to be caused by
> stress. Up in the tropical north, I was standing next to a quiet (but
> tourist frequented) waterway, and quite close to a Grey Shrike-thrush, in
> perfect early morning recording conditions. But the thrush would not cal=
l.
> After half an hour or more of waiting, the first of the early-morning
> canoeists paddled by, their voices and laughter echoing across the water,
> and the Grey Shrike-thrush then began to sing strongly. When the canoeis=
ts
> passed by, the bird stopped calling, until the next group of canoeists ca=
me
> by, and so on.
He was running a stress experiment on you.
> Our Rufous Whistler is famous for its reaction to thunder, gunshots, and
> other sudden loud noise. It always gives a volley of calls in response t=
o
> these. If you happen to be outside hammering at something, that really s=
ets
> them off. It is like they are passing comment on the noise, rather than
> being stressed by it.
>
> So what's happening here? Do you have any more examples?
I noted that many of our frogs call for vehicles. That even sometimes
includes aircraft. Most any intermittent sound will work.
Part of what's happening may be that the loop from sensing noise to
calling is shorter. These animals don't have a great big brain to
analyze every little thing. They don't think so much about it, but just
do it. In fact there is some question if they even have the emotions
attributed to them at all. The sections of brain that would be involved
are often tiny if they exist.
I have a small group of treefrogs in terraria here, mostly from tadpoles
I was not sure of and brought home to sort out. Watching them is a
education. Left to his own devices a frog will sit entirely immobile for
days sometimes. They are not just passive lumps, however, I have one
small treefrog that recognizes the tube that conveys the feed crickets
in. He's not unlike a puppy dog rushing up to get his nose in first. And
he does this just for the tube with crickets in it. That's pretty
surprising considering the
> Oh yes, it's shorts and t-shirt weather here too in summer Walt, but forg=
et
> the sandals, there's too many bull-ants and brown snakes about!
I know, I've actually had the joy of roaming the outback for at least a
little while. Loved it. I could go walkabout out there for a long time.
I will admit your snake selection is a bit more scary than ours.
Walt
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