Laying eggs on the ground is a good way to get them eaten by a predator. Some reptiles bury their eggs, that’s one option. But then you can’t really keep an eye on them or take care of the babies once they hatch. So maybe you try to find a nice safe place to keep them off the ground instead. Critters who were better at keeping their eggs from falling out of the tree or off the cliff had more babies, so nest-building behaviors get reinforced, even if it’s just laying a few twigs in the crook of a tree. Stick-loving birds get rewarded!
Comment on Fucking pigeons
OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I honestly wonder how birds started making nests, from an evolutionary perspective. Like they must have started this simple… So what benefit did it provide?
atomicorange@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
They did not start this way. We domesticated them. Then we rejected them. They’re still figuring out how to be wild again. All those pigeons you see are the descendants of formerly beloved pets that we threw outside without a care around 150 years ago.
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
I think the few sticks arranged around this egg are mostly there to act as chocks to keep the egg from rolling too far. This was easier than evolving square eggs.