Discovering Animal Behaviour Season 1, Episode 11: Breeding Helpers

1

Little Slavers

This documentary shows the spectacular behaviour of slaves catch on a species of ants in Sierra Nevada

2

Color Codes

Why are birds so brightly coloured? The researcher Juan Carlos Senar has discovered that different colors send different messages. For example, bright yellow means healthy and black means aggressive. Painting a black spot on a bird increased its dominance in the group.

3

The Paradox of Blue Eggs

Dr. Juan Moreno has found that by the colors of their eggs females can communicate its quality to males.

4

Perfumed Don Juans

Drs. Jose Martin and Pilar Lopez bring their work on sexual selection in lizards and the role of chemical signals in communication between rivals and partners. These "perfumes" are compounds including vitamins, a way of demonstrating the quality of the animal that produces them.

5

Calling Cards

The smell left by voles is like a business card that reduces aggression among voles who are the owners of a territory.

6

Fertilization à la carte

It’s incredible that females choosing males with different characteristics affects the sex of their offspring.

7

The Kiss of Death

Cannibalism among tarantulas is the subject of study in this documentary. By artificial nest has filmed the intimate life of these arachnids.

8

A Mothers Courage

Shot in Asturias, is about infanticide in brown bears and their conservation issues. The bears in the Cantabrian Mountains sometimes face male infanticidal behavior in heat.

9

Conflictive Parenthood

This chapter focuses on sperm competition in damselflies (a group of dragonflies) and is based on the research of Dr. Adolfo Cordero.

10

A Fortunate Forgetfulness

Dr. Mario Diaz has shown that the balance between field mice and their predators promotes regeneration of Mediterranean forests. The mice "planted" the oaks.

11

Breeding Helpers

The Azure-winged magpie is a very social bird. In addition to always go in flocks, some members help others to feed their young.

12

Looking for Paradise

According to recent publications of Dr. Eloy Revilla of the Biological Station of Doñana lynx youth are able to take more risks, and because it can colonize new territories.

13

Journey to Discovery

Each year, thousands of kites across the Strait of Gibraltar to reach their breeding areas in the Iberian Peninsula.

14

Kings of the Meadow

Monfragüe N. P. keeps one Mediterranean forest sanctuaries, here lives the black vulture. What are the food sources maintain this prosperous population? Dr. Emilio Costillo, analyzed their food preferences.

15

Courting

Although males collaborate in a way to attract females to the sands, once they arrive, it becomes clear that they are but determined opponents competing for reproduction.

16

Captives of the Forest

The “cantaderos”, of grouse they fell silent. Doctors Maria Jose Bañuelos and Mario Quevedo of the University of Oviedo use by powerful GIS to try to determine what are the conditions that make a habitat appropriate or not.

17

Seasonal Heremits

In Granada, is the enormous Cueva del Agua. Here are some animals that do not live anywhere else. Dr. Carmen Zamora investigates the behavior of these "little heremits".

18

Micro-strategists

Dr. Santiago Merino of the Spanish CSIC, is studying malaria in blue tits, a small insectivorous bird. Their findings open new lines of work to eradicate this serious disease similar to humans.

19

Birds with Personality

The ibis is a bird in extreme danger of extinction. Researchers design curious experiments to unravel the secrets of their personality, they hope that through this recovery plan can be much more successful.

20

Low Stress Diet

Dr. Alberto Redondo of the University of Córdoba studies the horses behaviour and their relationship with food. He has found that a rich in vegetable fats diet not only reduces stress, also the risk of an accident the rider to his horse frightened.

21

Eat or be eaten

Dr. David Alvarez by experiment in captivity has been shown that stickleback adapt their defense against herons depending on the speed of the water in which they live.

22

Gallant Choirs

Midwife toads singing to attract females, Dr Rafael Márquez CSIC performed ingenious experiments to find out which are the most attractive.

23

The Price of Power

Dr. Isabel Barja studies the behavior of wolves in northern Spain and found that the dominant wolves are suffering more stress than subordinates.

24

Living on the Edge

A huge star-shaped limpet is in danger of extinction, the ribbed Mediterranean limpet. Dr. Jose Carlos García Gómez of the University of Seville has discovered that this limpet has adapted to being caught by humans since the time of the Neanderthals and is able to change its sex to defend itself. Because of its special configuration, the port of Ceuta is a great haven for this species.

25

Harems in the Artic

The reindeer have led to the Sami way of life since prehistoric times, the documentary shows how today has changed little handling that makes these animals are collected once a year in large fences to mark the new offspring. Dr. Ostein Holand studies the effect of the proportion of male and female reproductive success.

26

Dance with Me

Dr. Amotz Zahavi proposed in the 70 Handicap Principle inspired by these curious birds of the desert, becoming one of the father of ethology. The documentary shows one of the most curious examples of this theory, "Morning Dance".

27

Wings over the Pyrenees

The bearded vulture is one of the most endangered species in the Iberian Peninsula. This documentary shows how the study of their behavior, and in particular their dispersion can be used to design conservation strategies

28

Lunchtime, kids!

Communication between parents and children varies depending on the species. Dr. Jiri Porket studies this communication at the redstart that inhabits coniferous forests of the Czech Republic, deciphering how the distribution of food in the nest.

29

Family Secrets

Family living is a critical social system that facilitates the evolution of cooperative breeding. Dr. Michael Griesser studies the benefits of family living in Siberian jays in Northern Sweden, where offspring remain prolonged with their parents and benefit from antipredator protection and social learning opportunities.