Untitled Document
 Dr.
Andy Radford from the University of Bristol, England, studied 20 groups
of green woodhoopoe birds near Morgan’s
Bay in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. He noted that the stress levels
in birds before and after their massages changed dramatically. Birds relaxed and felt safer when
preened.
The level of stress relief was linked
to the social status of the bird.
The woodhoopoes less dominant and lower down
in the pecking order benefited more from the grooming. Dr. Radford explained
that the “subordinates are more likely
to be the stressed ones in a group. So if they get a massage from
a usually threatening dominant individual,
it’s particularly relaxing, because
it means they’re accepted and so feel secure.”
 Green woodhoopoes
live in small groups, which include a dominant breeding pair, and up to six non-breeding subordinates.
The subordinates’ job is to help the dominant pair raise their young. All birds
in a group preen each other, with sessions focused on the birds’ heads
and necks, or on other body parts.
The study shows that not only primates, but other animals
living in complex social structures have very
important group activities, like grooming. It helps them socialize
and keep psychologically and physically healthy. |
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