第98期：强者为王还是“躺平”恒强？鸟类世界的生存狂想

飞行是鸟类最耗能的运动，他们维持胸肌和骨骼需要付出高昂的代谢代价。可是还有超过60种的鸟类主动放弃了飞行，成为“走地鸟”。是因为他们退化了么？还是他们有更精明的算计呢？

在放弃了飞行能力之后，他们的基础代谢率大幅下降，节省下来的能量可以被投入到繁殖方面上。比如新西兰的几维鸟，他们蛋的重量能达到体重的25%，是现生鸟类里卵占比最大的物种。

岛屿是“走地鸟”的天选之地。在远离大陆的孤岛上没有哺乳动物或者其他的捕食者，飞行逃生和长途觅食的需求就消失了，他们原来沉重的飞行器官反倒是成了累赘。有研究显示，随着捕食压力降低，鸟类普遍出现了胸肌缩小、后肢变长的趋势，这是他们走向不飞性的过渡阶段。

还有一些鸟就演化出了“蹭饭”的绝活儿。像是牛背鹭，就会紧跟着大型食草动物的步伐，利用它们惊扰藏匿猎物的习性高效实现觅食。在我国陕西洋县，有研究发现，跟着牛群的牛背鹭的啄食率会提升一倍，移动成本反而降低了75%。随着环境变化，它们甚至学会了跟着拖拉机或者干脆入驻垃圾填埋场。

最复杂的合作是来自于黑喉响蜜鴷。它们在知道了蜂巢位置以后就会引导人类过来。咱们人类用烟驱蜂、用斧劈巢，留下的蜂蜡就是他们的收获。

进取不必拘泥于一种形式，找到适合自己的节奏，才是最好的生存之道。

BGM：

片头：Jams Blunt - You're Beautiful

片尾：椿乐队 - 晚风（先行版）

参考文献

• Field Museum of Natural History. (2025). When Birds Lose the Ability to Fly, Their Bodies Change Faster Than Their Feathers. Evolution.

• Kiat, Y., & O'Connor, J. (2024). History of flight in dinosaurs and secondary flightlessness in birds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

• Wright, N. A., Steadman, D. W., & Witt, C. C. (2016). Predictable evolutionary trends in tinamous and other ratites under insularity and reduced predation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 113(22), 6214-6219.

• Cooper, A., Mitchell, K. J., & Wood, J. R. (2014). Ancient DNA reveals elephant birds and kiwi are sister taxa and clarifies ratite evolution. Science. 10.1126/science.1251981

• Spottiswoode, C. N., Begg, K. S., & Begg, C. M. (2011). Mutualism and murder: the evolutionary logic of honeyguides and why it matters. Biology Letters.

• Isack, H. A., & Reyer, H. U. (1989). Honeyguides and hominids: co-evolution of a mutualistic relationship. Science, 243(4896), 1343-1346.

• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). (2024). Cultural coevolution between humans and honeyguides. Science News.

• van der Wal, J. E. M., Afan, A. I., Anyawire, M., Begg, C., Begg, K., & Spottiswoode, C. N. (2026). Greater Honeyguides Sometimes Guide Humans to Animals Other Than Bees, but Likely Not as Punishment. Journal of Zoology, PMC12037988.

• Spottiswoode, C. N., & Wood, B. M. (2023). Culturally transmitted helper-selection dialects in a wild bird-human mutualism. Science, 382(6675), 1152-1156.

• Pérez-Tris, J., Bensch, S., Carbonell, R., Helbig, A. J., & Tellería, J. L. (2004). Repeated rapid evolution of avian migration routes. BioScience, 57, 165.

• Sjöberg, S., Alerstam, T., Alves, J. A., Andersson, A., Bäckman, J., & Hedenström, A. (2026). Winter thermoregulation costs drive annual energy expenditure trade-offs across avian migration strategies. bioRxiv.

• Macias Torres, P. (2025). Flight energetics in migratory birds: a perspective on small passerines. Lund University Dissertation.

• Pulido, F. (2007). The genetics and evolution of avian migration. BioScience. PMC10297951.

• Somveille, M., Rodrigues, A. S., & Manica, A. (2018). Energy efficiency shapes patterns of seasonal redistribution of migratory species. Nature Ecology & Evolution.

• Harshman, J., Braun, E. L., Fitch, D. P., & Cracraft, J. (2008). Phylogenomic evidence for multiple losses of flight in ratite birds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(36), 13462-13467.

• Robertson, H. A., & Colbourne, R. M. (2024). Reinvesting energy from flight into reproduction: the egg of the Kiwi (Apteryx). Curious Species Journal. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2025). Eight birds that cannot fly and their remarkable longevity and behavioral characteristics. Britannica List.

• Mukherjee, A. (2000). Adaptiveness of Cattle Egret's foraging. Zoos' Print Journal, 15(10), 332-333.

• Lombardini, F., et al. (2001). Ecological interactions of Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) with livestock in dry pastures of Maremma Regional Park, Italy. Avocetta, 25, 17-21.

• Seedikkoya, K., Azeez, P. A., & Shukkur, E. A. (2005). Foraging ecology and association of Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) in Kerala, India. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society.

• DABCS. (2024). Foraging activities, success and efficiency of cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) across different habitats in Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Journal of Biological and Food Science Research, 2(4), 45-50.

• Tarwater, C. R., & Brawn, J. D. (2011). Obligate army ant-following birds in fragmenting forests of Panama. Amazon Conservation Association Report.

• Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. (2026). Symbiotic relationships between Thamnophilidae birds and Eciton burchellii army ants. STRI Science Portal.

• Howard, L., & Tarwater, C. R. (2025). Spatial distribution of birds, ants, and prey at swarm fronts in Panama. University of Wyoming Research News.

• Willson, S. K. (2004). Obligate Army-Ant-Following Birds: A Study of Ecology, Spatial Movement Patterns, and Behavior in Amazonian Peru. Ornithological Monographs, 55, 1-67.

• Berthold, P. (1999). Theory of partial migration and the evolutionary transition from resident to migratory habits. Proceedings of the International Ornithological Congress.

• Berthold, P., Mohr, G., & Querner, U. (1994). Quantitative genetics of migratory behaviour in the Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 257(1350), 311-315.

• Pulido, F., & Berthold, P. (1998). Evolutionary quantitative genetics of migratory behaviour in the Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla). Biology and Conservation of Fauna, 102, 206-211.

• Pulido, F., Berthold, P., & van Noordwijk, A. J. (1996). Frequency of migrants and migratory activity are genetically correlated in a bird population. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 93(25), 14602-14607.

• Peterson, M. P., et al. (2023). Association of Adcyap1 and CLOCK gene polymorphisms with the migratory phenotype in avian species. Journal of Avian Biology, PMC10297951.

• Gu, Z., Zhan, X., Bruford, M. W., et al. (2021). Climate change facilitates the formation and maintenance of peregrine falcon migration routes. Nature, 591, 259-264.

• Dalton, D. L., & Le Clercq, L. S. I. (2024). Time trees and Clock genes: a Systematic Review and Comparative Analysis of contemporary Avian Migration Genetics. Teesside University Research Portal.

• Gu, Z., Zhan, X., et al. (2021). Whole genome sequencing of Falco peregrinus reveals ADCY8 associated with migratory distance. Nature News.

• van der Wal, J. E. M., Begg, C. M., Begg, K. S., & Spottiswoode, C. N. (2023). Do honey badgers and greater honeyguide birds cooperate to access bees' nests? Ecological evidence and honey-hunter accounts. Journal of Zoology, 321, Article 1.

• Kuang et al. 2025. Why do Cattle Egrets forage with cattle? An analysis from an anti-predation perspective. Behavioural Processes 228.10 5202. DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2025.105202