"Tweet of the day" this morning was about Buzzards. Michael Morpurgo talked about his daily encounters with Buzzards in the Devon countryside. It was OK, as TOTD goes. He said some "interesting" things..... He felt that when a pair of Buzzards were wheeling around high, high in the sky, " too high to be hunting" , they must be doing it for the sheer exhilaration of it.I can't remember the exact wording he used. Enjoyment, pleasure ... that sort of thing. Now that's a big jump that is. Do birds "enjoy" anything ? Can they feel any sort of "exhilaration" or "pleasure". We'd all like to think that they do. But do they? I think most students of bird behaviour (SOBB) would say no. Some might venture a cautious "maybe". Those Buzzards ... your mainstream SOBB would probably say that they were looking for the best area to hunt that day, maybe checking for other neighbouring rival pairs encroaching on their territory, maintaining a highly visible "presence" in their own territory, they could be honing their flying skills, if they were a pair it might be to show each other that they were fit and strong ... showing each other " their thermometers" ..... all sorts of sensible , non-joyous reasons. So, despite those buzzards being "too high for hunting" there's plenty of "non-exhilarating" reasons for all that high-altitude whooshing about. Birds do have a sort of internal "everythings-OK-right--now" sort of internal messaging system going on all the time ..... as do we ... but they, and us, don't know about it on a conscious level. It's a kind of "homeostasis-monitor" if you like ... making sure everything is staying OK. And trying to do something about it if it isn't. But what if we go higher up the evolutionary ladder to mammals ? My cat, for example, "seems" to experience pleasure. Every morning when I arrive downstairs, he jumps onto my lap and turns onto its back so I can stroke its fur. It even has a feedback system called "purring." But I wouldn't like to go as far as to say it is exhibiting pleasure. I reckon that a hard-nosed SOBB would say this was just a sort of "pair-bonding" mutual signalling. Or even a bit of "learned behaviour" that might get him some food ... and sure enough, he gets some food a few minutes later when I go into the kitchen. Or some sort of "allopreening" response. There's all kinds of explanations other than pleasure. Have a look at the sequence at 3m45s on here ... there's a bit of allopreening, plus a commentary .... ..... in which she says that " crows are known to display feelings ... such as happiness, anger and sadness." Interesting ... but she only says they "display" them ... she doesn't go so far as to say they actually "have" those feelings. Personally, I'm "on the fence" about all that. You get a good view from the fence. And you're a bit safer from ground-based predators ! That might be important to you. After all that thinking and feeling, some music ..... very appropriate .... "The Sensual World " .... Kate Bush ...
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
|