鳥類從電視上學到健康飲食，那么為什么人類學不到呢?

鳥類從電視上學到健康飲食，那么為什么人類學不到呢?

Birds can learn good eating habits from watching others, even without being present to experience the smells and sounds but some refuse to learn from non-members of their own species.

鳥類可以通過觀察其他鳥類來學習良好的飲食習慣，即使不在場也可以體驗氣味和聲音，但有些鳥類拒絕向非自己物種的成員學習。

Poisonous or foul-tasting animals frequently warn predators by adopting bright colors, known as aposematism. Although these colors signal “don't eat me” to animals who know the deal, they also make the bearer particularly conspicuous to those unfamiliar with the signal, who will likely eat them. Biologists have been puzzled as to why this strategy works overall.

有毒或惡臭的動物經(jīng)常用鮮艷的顏色來警告捕食者，這被稱為色盲。雖然這些顏色對知道交易的動物意味著“不要吃我”，但對那些不熟悉信號的動物來說，它們也會格外顯眼，因為這些動物可能會吃掉它們。生物學家一直困惑于為什么這種策略總體上是有效的。

The more predators learn from each other, rather than having to try the bright thing themselves, the better aposematism is likely to work. Dr Liisa Hämäläinen of Cambridge University tested the capacity of two types of birds, blue tits and great tits, to learn from the experiences of others.

捕食者之間相互學習的越多，而不是自己去嘗試更聰明的東西，就越有可能產(chǎn)生更好的迷惑。劍橋大學的Liisa Hamalainen博士測試了兩種鳥類，藍山雀和大山雀的學習能力。

To make sure the birds were not using hardwired knowledge, Hämäläinen made food items out of almond flakes, sometimes soaked in a bitter solution, and placed a cross or a square on an outer wrapping depending on whether the unpleasant taste was added. The birds' reactions were filmed and shown to members of both their own and other species. According to Hämäläinen, both species paid plenty of attention to the screen when the feeding was shown.

為了確保這些鳥沒有使用硬線知識，Hamalainen用杏仁片制作食物，有時用苦澀的溶液浸泡，并根據(jù)是否添加了不愉快的味道在外包裝上放置一個十字或正方形。這些鳥的反應(yīng)被記錄下來，并展示給它們自己和其他物種的成員。據(jù)Hamalainen說，這兩個物種在喂食時都非常注意屏幕。

Stephen Luntz

Upon eating the bitter flakes the birds reacted with almost comical disgust, making a great show of their distaste, whose meaning their viewers recognized. In the Journal of Animal Ecology Hämäläinen reports birds steered well clear of the aposematic symbol in the video they had watched, lest they make a tit of themselves. “By watching others, they can learn quickly and safely which prey are best to eat. This can reduce the time and energy they invest in trying different prey, and also help them avoid the ill effects of eating toxic prey," Hämäläinen said in a statement.

鳥兒們吃了這些苦澀的雪花后，表現(xiàn)出一種近乎滑稽的厭惡，表現(xiàn)出一種巨大的厭惡，觀眾們也明白這是什么意思。在《動物生態(tài)學雜志》上，Hamalainen報告說，鳥類在他們觀看的視頻中避開了這個不相關(guān)的符號，以免把自己當成乳頭。“通過觀察其他動物，它們可以快速而安全地知道哪些獵物是最好吃的。這可以減少它們嘗試不同獵物的時間和精力，也可以幫助它們避免食用有毒獵物的不良影響，”Hamalainen在一份聲明中說。

Hämäläinen told IFLScience the negative reaction is “Mostly trying to get rid of the taste, for example by wiping their beaks.” Although she considers it possible these social birds have learned to overact to make sure their flockmates learn, she doesn't think there is any evidence solitary species are less dramatic.

Hamalainen告訴IFLScience，負面反應(yīng)“主要是試圖去除味道，比如擦嘴。“盡管她認為這些群居鳥類可能已經(jīng)學會了過度行為，以確保它們的同伴也學會了，但她不認為有任何證據(jù)表明，獨居物種沒有那么戲劇化。”

Blue tits got the message when they watched fellow blue tits eat the artificial aposematic food, but seldom learned from great tits' reactions. However, great tits acquired knowledge from both species. The two birds often co-exist in the same space, and eat a similar diet, so Hämäläinen told IFLScience she doesn't know why learning between them only goes one way.

當藍山雀看到其他藍山雀吃人工合成的肉時，它們得到了這個信息，但是它們很少從大山雀的反應(yīng)中學習。然而，偉大的山雀從兩個物種獲得知識。這兩只鳥經(jīng)常生活在同一個地方，飲食也很相似，所以Hamalainen告訴IFLScience，她不知道為什么它們之間的學習只有一個方向。

Perhaps if birds can learn a healthy diet from TV, humans might as well. For that, however, fruit and vegetable growers might need an advertising budget at least as large as the makers of unhealthy, brightly colored, but oh-so-tasty food items.

也許，如果鳥類能從電視上學到健康的飲食，人類也可以。然而，要做到這一點，水果和蔬菜的種植者可能需要至少和那些不健康、顏色鮮艷、但卻非常美味的食品生產(chǎn)商一樣多的廣告預(yù)算。

One of Hämäläinen's birds choosing almond flakes wrapped in paper with a cross, rather than a square based on "advice" from other birds. Cambridge University