And they do not do it to eat, but to flirt. The spotted pergolero ( Ptilonorhynchus maculata ), a bird native to Papua and New Guinea, grows plants to attract females, according to a study published in the journal Current Biology .
This peculiar bird belongs to a family of birds famous for creating a kind of trellis that they decorate with a multitude of objects: from small twigs to plastic or glass waste, creating true works of art whose only function is sexual: the objective is to attract females to reproduce.
Researchers from the Universities of Exeter (United Kingdom), Postdam (Germany), Deakin and Queensland (Australia), had observed that in the surroundings of the trellises of the spotted pergola there were large quantities of a fruit shrub ( Solanum ellipticum ), a plant with striking purple flowers and green, tomato-like fruits. The research showed that the birds did not select places with high numbers of the plants, but instead grew them around their trellises.
“So far, humans are the only known species that grows plants for uses other than food – such as drugs, clothing, and sexual courtship – but it seems that we are not unique in this regard,” explains Joah Madden, one of the authors.
However, scientists do not think that birds consciously cultivate plants, but rather that the abundance of bushes around their trellises is an indirect consequence of their sexual behavior. Birds may carry large amounts of fruit to adorn their works of art, and many of them may fall to the ground. As they are clear surfaces and with a lot of light, the seeds would find optimal conditions to germinate, creating a small garden around the vineyards full of ornaments.
