Can Birds Be Gay? Do Birds Show Homosexual Behavr?

Contents:

• LBIAN ALBATROSS AND GAY GIRAFF? THE SCIENCE ON SAME-SEX SEXUALY ANIMALS
• WHY IT'S OK FOR BIRDS TO BE GAY
• CAN BIRDS BE GAY? DO BIRDS SHOW HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVR?
• HOW COMMON ARE GAY ANIMALS?
• GENIS: HOW THE GAY BIRRS OF NORTH AMERI CAME TO BE

LBIAN ALBATROSS AND GAY GIRAFF? THE SCIENCE ON SAME-SEX SEXUALY ANIMALS

“People always e up wh the argument that homosexualy is somehow agast nature. " a 2006 exhibn at the Norwegian Natural History Mm of the Universy of Oslo that ed mols, photos, texts, and specimens (like the swans to the right) to rm visors about a small selectn of "gay" animals. Scientists have observed homosexual behavr hundreds of animal speci, om sects to sheep.

WHY IT'S OK FOR BIRDS TO BE GAY

Bonobos, one of our clost relativ, may be the most well-known homosexual whal, bottlenose dolphs, Wt Indian manate, and giraff are known to have all-male i. Homosexualy is most wispread among animals wh a plex herd life. Homosexualy also plays a social role among other male animals, such as big horn sheep and lns.

But rearchers have no ia what the advantage is, if any, of homosexual behavr among dragonfli, srab beetl, or, as observed at least once, two male octop of different speci.

CAN BIRDS BE GAY? DO BIRDS SHOW HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVR?

“This lony is lerally the largt proportn of — I don’t know what the rrect term is: ‘homosexual animals’? Nearly one-fifth of all long-term greylag gee upl are gay, posed of two mal.

They're not alone: More than 130 bird speci are known to engage homosexual behavr at least ocsnally, a fact that has puzzled all, evolutnary terms same-sex matg seems to rce the birds' chanc of reproductive succs. In some speci the same-sex pairs even raise young (nceived wh outsi partners, obvly) and stay together for several 2007, a team led by Geoff MacFarlane, a blogist at the Universy of Newstle Atralia, reported that male homosexual behavr was more mon polygyno bird speci, where mal mate wh numero femal, and that female homosexual behavr was more mon monogamo speci. Srg sexTo fd out whether the theory might extend to homosexual behavr, MacFarlane and his team exhstively bed the lerature for acunts of same-sex urtship, mountg, or pair bondg.

HOW COMMON ARE GAY ANIMALS?

They foced on the 93 bird speci whose homosexual teractns scientists had seen the wild. For each speci, the team lculated the equency of homosexual behavr as well as both sex' ntributns to parentg.

Overall, homosexual behavr amounted to ls than 5 percent of all sexual activy the 93 speci, though some s was much higher. And sure enough, there was a strong rrelatn between a speci' matg system and s homosexual behavr. The balance shifted to femal socially monogamo speci, where the sex spl the work more far, female homosexualy hasn't turned up the handful of birds where each female mat wh many mal, but MacFarlane's team predicts may.

GENIS: HOW THE GAY BIRRS OF NORTH AMERI CAME TO BE

"Homosexual behavr is more likely to be mataed and not be selected agast than if you are a sex that r a lot for offsprg and only has one or few reproductive partners, " he wh plenty of reproductive prospects, a ltle homosexual behavr won't have much effect on long-term reproductive succs, MacFarlane said.