Homosexual birds

1989/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

Ethological studies reveal that homosexualism is not surprising among wild birds. Females of four species of seagulls, two terns and a kind of goose can present lesbian behaviors. It seems that there have been adaptation problems that have pushed these birds to adopt unusual behavior.

This phenomenon was first seen in the seagulls colonies of the California island of Santa Barbara. 14% of cabins had twice as many eggs as conventional ones. In principle this event may have another origin, such as male polygamous or cabi parapsitism, but its origin was seen in pairs of females laying eggs.

As in male/female pairs, permanent ties are created and in the following years the same lesbian couples are formed. Gay seagulls have the same courtship techniques as normal couples and the same territoriality guidelines. However, the attempt at homosexual copulation is rare.

The proliferation of homosexual couples is directly related to the decrease in the number of males in the colony. The fewer males, the more homosexual couples. Homosexual couples allow females who could not move their children forward (for example, because they would not have access to enough food for them).