Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!oliveb!oliven!mjm
From: mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Peregrines & shorebirds
Message-ID: <47139@oliveb.olivetti.com>
Date: 26 Aug 89 03:08:19 GMT
References: <1989Aug24.193532.6535@utzoo.uucp>
Sender: news@oliveb.olivetti.com
Lines: 36

In article <1989Aug24.193532.6535@utzoo.uucp>, rising@utzoo.uucp (Jim Rising) writes:
 > When I was a kid, before Peregrines were rare, I recall watching,
 > one spring, as a Peregrine apparently attempted to grab a Golden
 > Plover from a flock.  As I recall the incident, the Peregrine 
 > stooped on the flock and actually flew around it a couple of
 > times, then left, without a catch.  None of the plovers broke
 > from the flock, and I assumed that the falcon was "reluctant"
 > to charge into it at over 100 mph (or whatever).  We should say,
 > of course, that there is selection against Peregrines that do.

	I was informed through email that my statement of belief that
peregrines would not strike into a flock for fear of injury in a
collision, was in itself anthropocentric; implying an ability in the
bird to make a concious judgement about the danger involved, rather
than reacting unconciously to genetically determined instincts. I must
admit that I had not thought about this when writing the story, but it
started me thinking about the differences between instinctive behavior
and conditioned responses.

	Certainly a peregrine that strikes into a flock and is seriously
or fatally injured would have little success reproducing its kind. This
would make one believe that the population will tend towards birds that
don't behave this way. But what about the occasional bird that happens
to survive such a maneuver with little injury; able to recover and go
on with its life? Couldn't it learn from this experience and avoid
making the same mistake? And wouldn't its avoidance of this maneuver on
future occasions be a concious, rather than instinctive, act?

	I certainly don't have any expertise in this area, but I'm
interested in the opinions of others on the net. As a lay-person, I
seem to recall reading about some instances of learned behavior in
wild animals. The one that springs to mind is about juvenile Blue Jays
that try their hand at eating Monarch Butterflies, only to learn that
these poisonous beauties are to be avoided.

Mike