The mother finches prioritize boys more than girls

Like other mothers, house finches want to protect their children from harmful parasites. But the mother sparrow still prefers the weak young males to the sturdy females.

(Photo: nps.gov) The blood-sucking ticks can invade the finch's nest, damaging the chances of survival of young birds. And males are more vulnerable than females, researcher Alexander Badyaev at the University of Arizona said.

When the female finch is reproducing in contact with the tick, her body will change hormones to help protect the younger males. When the mother bird lays eggs, she will only give one fruit a day. The hormonal change in the body changes the order in which the eggs hatch - the former, the male - and causes the male to grow faster when in the egg.

"Mother mother naturally hid her son in eggs , " Badyaev said.

Because of less contact with the mites, the male chicks born during the mite season can grow fast and strong as well as those born during the tickless season, even though they have less time in the nest.

MT