{"id":1955,"date":"2021-11-17T21:05:28","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T03:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/?p=1955"},"modified":"2025-06-09T17:49:05","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T17:49:05","slug":"parrots-of-the-eiffel-tower-how-some-bird-species-benefit-from-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/2021\/11\/17\/parrots-of-the-eiffel-tower-how-some-bird-species-benefit-from-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Parrots of the Eiffel Tower: how some bird species benefit from war"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Author: Juli\u00e1n Monge N\u00e1jera, Ecologist and Photographer <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all was bad news. Some birds benefited from human armed conflict taken place in the past century. Also, they were used to develop important roles in wars such as communication of military and mental health of patients. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Parrots were employed, early in the war, at the Eiffel Tower to announce the approach of hostile aircraft. Source: Modified image of Wikimedia Commons<\/a> and Svgsilh<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

War is hell on earth<\/em>: no other description better fits the absolute horror of war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, in his book, Birds and the War<\/em>, Scottish ornithologist Hugh S. Gladstone (1877-1949) explained that some bird species actually benefit from human armed conflict<\/strong>. In the sea, gulls swarm over fish killed by explosions, and battlefield debris are used by birds of many species gulls swarm for shelter. Military buildings also provide shelter, and refuse from troops and military installations help birds with tons of food and nesting materials\u00b9. <\/p>\n\n\n

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In wars, gulls swarm take advantage to explosions in the sea to over fish. Source: Pxfuel<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Potassium and nitrates from bombs<\/strong> have lasting ecological effects: they are, after all, key components of fertilizers, and the enriched soils produce more biomass<\/strong>. More vegetation means more flowers, fruits and seeds, which in turn mean more insects and more herbivores: great news for birds that feed on seeds, fruits and small animals, as well as for carrion-eating birds. Minutes after mortar shells craters were formed, birds landed to feed on the exposed grub worms, and weeks later, they bathed and fed on the rain-filled craters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, millions of birds suffer injury and death because of wars<\/strong> (see my previous post here<\/a>), but conflicts also prevent bird hunters from going to some areas. No-man zones, like the ones between the two Koreas and those that buffered west and east Europe during the cold war, are significant refuges for flora and fauna<\/strong>, as are zones that become depopulated when human refugees abandon them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMinutes after mortar shells craters were formed, birds landed to feed on the exposed grub worms, and weeks later, they bathed and fed on the rain-filled craters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the times of Gladstone, messenger pigeons still were part of army units<\/strong>, and military hospitals used canaries<\/strong> and pigeons to improve the mental health of patients<\/strong>. Then, as now, soldiers sometimes kept pet birds and, even in the battlefield, birds provided relief: “If it weren’t for the birds, what a hell it would be! I watch them singing, and something comes into my throat”, wrote a Scottish soldier killed in the Western Front\u00b2. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Soldiers used war pigeons as a communication mean. Source: Wikimedia Commons<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cOrnithologists are also called to arms and die in wars<\/em>\u201d adds Gladstone, \u201cand this saves thousands of birds that would, otherwise, be killed to enlarge the collections of both museums and amateurs<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Parrots were employed, early in the war, at the Eiffel Tower to announce the approach of hostile aircraft. It was found at first that the birds gave warning fully twenty minutes before an aeroplane or airship could be identified by the eye or heard by the human ear”\u00b2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This extraordinary use of tropical birds in the French capital was discontinued, because they were equally alarmed by enemy and friendly aircraft. <\/p>\n\n\n

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There\u2019s still life and hope during war times. Source: Wikimedia Commons<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Today, the United States Armed Forces and other western armies incorporate bird conservation in their guidelines<\/strong>\u00b3 and birds also benefit from sites of past battles that are now protected as parks<\/strong>, for example Santa Rosa in Costa Rica<\/strong>\u2074 and Antietam and Manassas in the USA\u2075. In a study in the USA, when military exercises scared away crows, northern cardinals were less stressed and reproduced better<\/strong>\u2076. I dream of a future in which soldiers can pet birds instead of killing other human beings; and I hope my grandchildren\u2019s children can live that dream. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Santa Rosa, Costa Rica, was part of a battle in 1956, now is a National Park. Source: \u00c1rea de Conservaci\u00f3n Guanacaste.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Northern cardinals were less stressed with crows away and reproduced better\u2076. Source: Donald Wuori\/Audubon<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Originally published  in Blog Biolog\u00eda Tropical: 15 may 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REFERENCIAS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u00b9 Trouer-Trend, J. (2006). Birding Babylon<\/em>. Covelo, California, USA: Sierra Club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b2 Gladstone, H. (1919). Birds and the War<\/em>. Londres, UK: Skeffington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b3 Eberly, C., & Keating, J. (2006). Birds and bombs: how bird conservation planning and the military mission work together. Federal Facilities Environmental Journal,<\/em> 17<\/em>(1), 51-65.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2074An\u00f3nimo (2019). Parque Nacional Santa Rosa<\/em>. San Jos\u00e9, Costa Rica: Sistema Nacional de \u00c1reas de Conservaci\u00f3n. Retrieved from https:\/\/bit.ly\/2OoKXB0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2075 Higgins, C. (2017). Civil War Battlefields: A Haven for Grassland Birds<\/em>. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/articles\/battlefield-birds.htm<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2076Barron, D. G., et al. (2012). Effects of military activity on breeding birds. The Journal of Wildlife Management,<\/em> 76<\/em>(5), 911-918.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author: Juli\u00e1n Monge N\u00e1jera, Ecologist and Photographer  Not all was bad news. Some birds benefited from human armed conflict taken place in the past century. Also, they were used to develop important roles in wars such as communication of military and mental health of patients.  War is hell on earth: no other description better fits […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scientific-investigation","8":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1955"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1977,"href":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1955\/revisions\/1977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investiga.uned.ac.cr\/urbanecology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}