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EE Fitz.Indd news from the PERCY FITZPATRICK INSTITUTE Scratch my back and maybe I’ll scratch yours llogrooming is the They made detailed behav- behaviourbehaviour wherebywhereby ioural observations of 18 wild Aone individual grooms wood-hoopoe groups in another. This practice is which all individuals were common and has been well uniquely colour ringed, and studied across a wide variety hence identifiable. Their of mammals, including pri- results confirmed that allo- mates, antelope and rodents. preening of the head and Two general explanations neck, areas that cannot be have been proposed for the effectively self-preened, function of allogrooming. serves primarily a hygienic The first is hygiene, whereby function. All individuals in animals remove ectopara- a group, irrespective of their sites, such as ticks, from each age, sex, dominance status other. The second is social and the group size, donated communication, allowing and received similar rates of a dominant individual to head allopreening. Further, assert or confirm its status, the ‘favour’ of head allo- or serving to reconcile indi- preening was often returned viduals after punishment. and it occurred at a relative- Allogrooming may also be ly constant rate throughout used to divert aggressive the year. attacks, reduce tensions, and/ By contrast, allopreening or maintain social relation- of the rest of the body which ships among group members. is accessible to the recipient Allopreening, the bird was received mainly by the equivalent of allogrooming, most dominant individuals is also widespread but it has (primarily the breeding pair). not been nearly as well stud- This behaviour had a strong ied. This is perhaps because seasonal pattern, being most allopreening was initially CHRIS VAN ROOYEN pronounced immediately thought to serve a solely Allopreening in wood-hoopoes not only serves a hygienic function, preceding the breeding sea- hygienic function. Early it also has considerable social significance. son. This is the time of year studies indicated that birds when assertion of dominance allopreen mainly those body live in such groups are the accumulating high ectopara- is most important, especially parts of another individual wood-hoopoes, babblers and site loads. They have long by the breeding pair who are which the recipients cannot helmet-shrikes. Using wood- bills and are unable to preen attempting to maintain their reach with their own bills, hoopoes as a model, Morné significant areas of their bod- breeding status. for example, the head and du Plessis and former doc- ies. It would therefore seem Taken together, these neck regions. However, many toral student Andy Radford logical that the primary func- observations provide strong bird species also allopreen searched for answers con- tion of allopreening among support for the assertion that accessible body parts. This cerning the functions of these birds should be for allopreening in Green Wood- latter behaviour is dispropor- allopreening in a social, hygiene. However, allo- Hoopoes serves a dual func- tionately frequent among group-living bird. preening in wood-hoopoes tion, depending on the part birds that live in complex, Green Wood-Hoopoes is not restricted to the head of the body involved. Who permanent groups in which Phoeniculus purpureus are and neck, and this led the knows whether this is also social interactions are com- cooperative breeders that researchers to investigate the case in several of south- monplace. roost communally every whether this behaviour might ern Africa’s babbler species, Among the best-known night in a tree cavity and have an important additional all of which engage in elabo- African bird families that are thus susceptible to social function. rate bouts of allopreening? Visit the FitzPatrick website: http://www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology (a DST/NRF Centre of Excellence), University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town, South Africa. Tel. (021) 650 3290; fax (021) 650 3295; e-mail [email protected] 22 PERCY FITZPATRICK INSTITUTE AFRICA – BIRDS & BIRDING.
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