Birds also take care of grandchildren like grandparents

It was like grandparents still caring for busy parents, for the first time scientists observed that older birds also behave in the same way.

For more than 10 years, molecular ecologist David Richardson from the University of East Anglia in England and colleagues investigated Seychelles warbler, once the world's rarest bird due to human killing. Conservation efforts have pulled this tropical bird back from the brink of extinction.

The island where the study is located is the spawning ground of half a million seabirds. Bird droppings fall like rain, making "hat is required!". In addition, although the island is as beautiful as paradise, it is also full of mosquitoes and you have to be very lucky to avoid 300-400 mosquito bites every day.

Researchers found that, like humans, older adults don't give birth anymore, often helping their children to take care of them. About two-thirds of older females help their daughters raise their eggs by incubating eggs or taking care of young birds that have not left their nest. This helps the " grandparents " protect their genetic heritage, Richardson conjectured.

Of course, there are still females who continue to spawn, while others have stopped their own reproduction to serve her and serve her. The team now wants to find out what makes this difference.

In a very small group of other mammals, such as pepper whales and some monkeys, researchers sometimes also see older adults playing a possible role of grandparents. However, this behavior is often overlooked.

Seychelles Warblers, the only bird known to date is taking care of grandchildren.(Photo: LiveScience)

T. An