The bustard self-medicates to flirt more: it eats plants with medicinal properties

The Great Bustard

is the largest bird that can fly and also the one that probably has the most striking courtship ritual, to the point that it can be observed from more than a kilometer away.

Now, scientists have drawn their attention to another aspect of their behavior that, they believe, would be related to their efforts to mate: a Spanish team has documented how they ingest plants with antiparasitic and sedative properties and, as they propose in a new investigation published in the

magazine do not do it to nourish themselves but to take advantage of those beneficial properties for their health.

Specifically, they discovered that these animals

which are also used by humans in traditional medicine.

"They contain antiprotozoal and nematicide compounds (that is, they kill worms), while one of them also contains antifungal agents," explains Azucena González-Coloma, a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (ICA-CSIC) and co-author of this study.

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"The bustard

It ingests seeds, invertebrates and sometimes small vertebrates when it manages to catch them, but the daily diet is made up of green leafy plants and its droppings are basically plant remains," he explains through an email Luis M. Bautista, scientist at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN), in Madrid, and lead author of this study in which they have examined their diet through the analysis of droppings.

To do this work, they did not collect fresh feces, but instead re-analyzed the data on the droppings collected in previous studies: "We knew that bustards ingest poppies and vipers, but

. Let alone which one

could be the reason. This work explains the reason, which is not nutritional. After the laboratory tests, we infer that the reason could be medicinal against parasites, during the time when hormonal stress is stronger and, therefore, the immune system is more weakened", says the researcher.

Common PoppiesCarolina Bravo

Bustard females usually stay in the area where they were born (they usually live between 10 and 15 years) while after dispersing the males usually return to the breeding place every year.

"especially among males, who develop plumage and colors that take resources away from maintaining their immune system.

Only the males with the best physical condition and immune system are chosen by the females. That is where it makes sense to ingest plants with non-nutritional elements that support the immune system," argues Bautista.

As Azucena González-Coloma reviews, the ingestion of plants with medicinal properties had already been documented in other species.

For example, in the case of birds, in blue tits or Darwin's finches: "Birds are coated with a wide variety of other items with antiparasitic properties, including millipedes, caterpillars, beetles, and plant materials.

the intake of vegetables with antiparasitic effects

In theory, says González-Goloma, both male and female bustards "could benefit from foraging for medicinal plants in the mating season, when sexually transmitted diseases are common, while males using plants with active compounds against disease can appear healthier, more vigorous and more attractive to females.

an endangered species

The bustard is not going through its best moment.

In the red list of threatened species prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) it appears listed as vulnerable.

According to recent research led by JC Alonso and Carlos Palacín, from the National Museum of Natural Sciences,

It is estimated that between 31,000 and 36,000 copies remain, which is 16% less than 16 years ago.

Between 70 and 75% of the great bustards live in Spain, while the rest are distributed throughout Germany and Central Europe, as well as in Russia, China, and Mongolia.

two females

"The species in our country was threatened by hunting pressure. Since it was protected it began to recover, but the development of intensive agriculture, the removal of weeds from the edges of plots, accidents against electrical lines, fences, the inconvenience of hunters who do not hunt them but scare them, as well as the harvesters and the spraying have caused the species to decline once again in Spain," says Bautista.

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