火烈鸟复杂的社会生活包括朋友、敌人甚至是友敌

火烈鸟复杂的社会生活包括朋友、敌人甚至是友敌

When you think of flamingos, you likely picture groups of them, their long legs half-submerged in the water. If you look closer, you'll notice two, three or more individuals clustering, so that the large mass seems to be made up of groups. Just like people at a beach or a park, flamingos have their squads too.

当你想到火烈鸟的时候，你可能会想到它们成群结队的样子，它们的长腿一半浸在水中。如果你仔细观察，你会注意到两个、三个或更多的个体聚集在一起，所以这个巨大的群体似乎是由群体组成的。就像在海滩或公园里的人们一样，火烈鸟也有自己的小队。

Look closely at a flock of flamingos, and you'll notice groups hanging out together. (Photo: Aneesh Kotwal/Shutterstock)

That makes sense, since according to a new study published in Behavior Processes, the social lives of flamingos rival that of humans.

这是有道理的，因为根据发表在《行为过程》杂志上的一项新研究，火烈鸟的社会生活可与人类媲美。

Over five years, researchers have kept track of four different captive flamingo species — Caribbean, Chilean, Andean and lesser flamingos — at the Slimbridge Wetland Centre, part of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), the leading wetland conservation charity in the U.K. During that time they observed their relationships. It was already known that like many species of birds, flamingos pair-bond and stay bonded to their mates over time, and that was backed up by the researchers' observations.

在过去的五年中，研究人员在斯姆布里奇湿地中心对四种不同的圈养火烈鸟进行了跟踪研究，它们分别来自加勒比海、智利、安第斯山脉和较小的火烈鸟。斯姆布里奇湿地中心隶属于英国领先的湿地保护慈善机构——野禽和湿地信托基金会(WWT)。人们已经知道，火烈鸟和许多鸟类一样，会随着时间的推移配对并保持与配偶的亲密关系，这一点得到了研究人员的观察结果的支持。

Flamingos have more complex social lives than you might guess and their relationships are long-lasting. (Photo: Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock)

But they also noticed friendships between same-sex flamingos, and kept track of groups that would hang out together over and over again. Also notable was that some flamingos would avoid certain individuals, indicating they definitely have preferences about who they spend time with. The relationships (both friends and enemies) were maintained over time, which is especially relevant as flamingos can live up to 50 or 60 years.

但他们也注意到了同性火烈鸟之间的友谊，并记录下了一遍又一遍一起闲逛的群体。同样值得注意的是，一些火烈鸟会避开某些个体，这表明它们对与谁在一起有明确的偏好。这种关系(包括朋友和敌人)是长期保持的，这一点尤其重要，因为火烈鸟可以活到50或60岁。

"Our results indicate that flamingo societies are complex. They are formed of long-standing friendships rather than loose, random connections," lead author of the study, Dr. Paul Rose, of the University of Exeter, told ZME Science.

“我们的研究结果表明，火烈鸟的社会是复杂的。它们是由长期的友谊而不是松散的、随机的联系形成的。”

Rose and his colleagues also kept track of the flamingos' health (they did this by examining their feet), to see if that had any bearing on their relationships. Even when they weren't well, the sickly flamingos continued to socialize, which likely means that time with other flamingos is important. Flamingos may even depend on a best friend or friends when times get tough.

罗斯和他的同事们还记录了火烈鸟的健康状况(他们通过检查它们的脚来记录)，看看这是否对它们的关系有影响。即使身体不好，体弱多病的火烈鸟也会继续进行社交活动，这可能意味着与其他火烈鸟在一起的时间很重要。在困难的时候，火烈鸟甚至可能依赖于一个或几个最好的朋友。

This information deepens our understanding of flamingo relationships and how we can help facilitate them, explain the study's authors.

这项研究的作者解释说，这些信息加深了我们对火烈鸟关系的理解，以及我们如何帮助它们。

"These results are helpful for those working with captive flamingos to consider the number of birds housed so that an array of opportunities for choice of associate and/or breeding partner are available in zoo-housed flocks."

“这些结果有助于研究圈养火烈鸟的人员考虑被圈养的火烈鸟的数量，以便在动物园圈养的鸟群中提供选择伙伴和/或育种伙伴的一系列机会。”

It also reminds us that the animals we share this planet with often have complex, interesting lives of their own, and they deserve the space and protection they need to keep living them.

这也提醒我们，与我们共同生活在这个星球上的动物通常都有自己复杂而有趣的生活，它们理应得到生存所需的空间和保护。