Zoologger: The only cross-dressing bird of prey

[Felix]

New Scientist
09 November 2011 by Michael Marshall

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21138-zoologger-the-only-crossdressing-bird-of-prey.html

Gliding over a bed of reeds in south-west France, a male western marsh harrier circles his nest. Scanning the surrounding area, he spots a second male on a nest just 400 metres away from his own.

Ordinarily this would be the start of a fight. Male marsh harriers are territorial, and don't like another male to set up home within 700 metres of the nest. Yet the new neighbour merits nothing more than a long look.

That's because the interloper is a cross-dresser. Ever since he reached sexual maturity, his feathers have been coloured like a female's. Marsh harriers are one of only two bird species – and the only bird of prey – where some of the males mimic females.

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I don't know if anybody else here likes animals, but I'm always curious about what biological and behavioral correlates we might find in nature.
- Felix

[Devlyn]

Cool article, Felix, thanks for sharing it with us.

[Shana A]

Drag race: Transvestite birds win competition for sex

(AFP) – 23 hours ago

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gup9AzZOcwdYJ_2mfWV6tSb-N_tQ?docId=CNG.e9b9754115e56cec3bf436ebd3999790.d91

PARIS — In a species of hawk, males dress themselves up as females to gain a sneaky advantage in the mating game, according to an unusual study published Wednesday.

Most male marsh harriers (Circus aeruginosus) are grey, but more than a third have permanent plumage that mimics the colours of females, which are mainly brown with a white head and shoulders.

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Why Some Birds of Prey Become Transvestites
Charles Choi, LiveScience Contributor
Date: 08 November 2011 Time: 07:01 PM ET

http://www.livescience.com/16940-transvestite-birds-prey-sexual-mimicry.html

Birds of prey may be thought of as fierce foes, but scientists find that some males disguise themselves as peaceful females.

These males belong to a species of raptor known as the marsh harrier. Using plastic decoys, French researchers learned that the transvestites among these predators are less aggressive than other males.

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The male bird that dresses.. like a bird

Published: Today

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3922743/The-male-bird-that-dresses-like-a-bird.html

A TRANSVESTITE bird that disguises itself as a female to avoid being bullied by rivals in the breeding season has been discovered by scientists.

Forty per cent of male marsh harriers were seen displaying "feminine" brown plumage rather than their traditional grey-brown during a study.

They were far less aggressive and drew fewer attacks from rival males.

[Maya Zimmerman]

Yup.  We are part of an interesting animal phenomenon in a world full of interesting animal phenomena.  I mentioned a few examples here: https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,107898.msg810403.html#msg810403

One of the things about animal behavior that amazes me is that ear whigs have a strong maternal instinct!  I used to get so grossed out by them because they're so creepy looking and there are urban legends about them crawling in ears *shiver*, but knowing they're good moms, I kind of have a soft spot for them now.

[Felix]

Lol I really hate to admit it, but earwigs make my skin crawl. I didn't know they looked after their offspring, though. Parent bugs do too - http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/heteroptera/Acanthosomatidae/elasmucha_grisea.html.

On that other thread you mentioned sex-changing animals. That reminds me of parthenogenesis (single-sex reproduction without fertilization), which isn't genetically as useful as sex change, but still pretty cool, and gender-related.

[Maya Zimmerman]

Aw, look at that nice Parent bug family. 

As far as parthenogenesis, it may not be genetically useful (yay genetic diversity!), but I'm a huge fan of identical genetic material as a way of examining the role that one's environment can play in the development of traits and behavior.  It also seems like an area of study that would lend itself well to all kinds of people being able to pass on genetic material in ways otherwise impossible, a thing that I know won't happen in my remaining baby window, but I still want to know will be available for others in the future.