Can this bird self-medicate with plants to kill parasites? Some researchers think so

Science The great bustard’s secret weapon is ... vegetation. by Jennifer Walter Updated: Feb. 20, 2024 Originally Published: November 23, 2022 Bernd Zoller/imageBROKER/Getty Images

Avalon/Universal Images Group/Getty Images At first glance, the diet of the great bustard — one of Earth’s heaviest flying birds — seems like nothing to balk at.

Bustards munch on plants and sometimes insects — a pretty typical diet for many birds. But during mating season, they appear to favor certain foods that could offer medicinal benefits. imageBROKER/Ronald Wittek/imageBROKER/Getty Images

Researchers writing this week in the journal Frontiers in Ecology Evolution investigated the diets of great bustards in Spain, and found some surprising results.

ullstein bild/ullstein bild/Getty Images

Anastasiia Yanishevska / 500px/500Px Plus/Getty Images Analyzing bustard poops, they found that two specific plants are more frequently eaten by males: -The red poppy, Papaver rhoeas -The purple viper's-bugloss, Echium plantagineum

However, it was only in samples collected during mating season that the males appear to have a preference for this flora.

Jesús Giraldo / 500px/500Px Plus/Getty Images

During this time of year, male bustards spend a lot of time wooing females with their intricate displays. Education Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

It’s an energy-intensive process that can leave males with weakened immune systems. And bustards are susceptible to a range of parasites , which are harder to fight off if a bird isn’t in the best health. ullstein bild/ullstein bild/Getty Images

In a previous study, the same research team reported that male bustards will eat toxic blister beetles during mating season.

Shutterstock Their toxins appear to kill or harm a variety of pathogens in a lab setting.

Alvesgaspar via Wikimedia Commons So the scientists tested the red poppy and the purple viper’s bugloss in the lab to see if the plants had any pathogen-killing properties, too.

Sure enough, both species appear to kill or slow the growth of parasites in lab tests, similar to blister beetle toxins.

Jacky Parker Photography/Moment/Getty Images

Bernd Zoller/imageBROKER/Getty Images This leads the researchers to hypothesize that great bustards might be self-medicating during mating season to keep themselves illness-free.

However, the research has its caveats. Because great bustards are a vulnerable species in Spain, the researchers were not able to study the bird’s bodies or behaviors, just their droppings. Gary Chalker/Moment/Getty Images

And since great bustards are distributed around Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, more research on different populations could change or confirm the self-medication hypothesis.

Frank Mcclintock / EyeEm/EyeEm/Getty Images