This is the bustard, the largest bird capable of flying and self-healing.

As such, they may be a rare example of a bird using herbs against the disease, namely self-medicating, as a published study suggests. Boundaries in Ecology and Evolution.

“We’re showing it.Bustards prefer to eat plants containing chemical compounds with in vitro antiparasitic effects.“, says Luis M. Bautista-Sopelana, a scientist at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid and first author of the study.

Co-author Azucena González-Coloma, a researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Madrid, adds: “Great bustards research two types of weeds that people also use in traditional medicine. We have shown that both contain antiprotozoals and nematicides (i.e. wormicidal compounds), while the latter contains antifungal agents.

Animal self-medication is suspected to occur with varying degrees of confidence in a wide variety of animals, including primates, bears, deer, deer, macaws, bees, and fruit flies. But Bautista-Sopelana cautioned that it is difficult to prove this definitively in wild animals: “We cannot make comparisons between control and experimental treatments. And double-blind trials or dose-effect studies, which are mandatory steps in human or veterinary medicine, are obviously impossible.” in wild animals”.

Classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, bustards breed in grasslands from Western Europe and Northwest Africa to Central and East Asia. About 70% of the world’s population lives in the Iberian Peninsula. Males can weigh up to 16 kilos.

Females usually stick to their spawning range for life (10-15 years), while males revisit the same area each year after dispersal. They run the risk of re-infection by staying in the same area for a long time (and more importantly, by dropping their feces). And males need exceptional stamina during the mating season when their immune defenses are expected to drop.

Plants containing active compounds against diseases

“Theoretically, both sexes of bustards may benefit from collecting herbs during mating season, when STDs are common, while males using plants containing disease-active compounds may appear healthier, more vigorous, and more attractive to females.” said González-Coloma.

Some members of the research team have studied bustards since the early 1980s, particularly in the autonomous communities of Madrid and Castilla y León. They collected a total of 623 female and male bustard spots, 178 during the mating season in April. Using a microscope, they counted the abundance of recognizable remains (stem, leaf and flower tissue) from 90 plant species known to be on the bustard’s menu.

The results showed that the two species were consumed more often than expected by bustards due to their abundance: corn poppy, Poppy and purple viper insect loss, echium plant.

Reptiles choose purple viper poppy and poppy in April, the mating season with the highest energy expenditure. And males, who display most of their time and energy sexually during these months, prefer them more than females. ‘ concluded Bautista-Sopelana.

Analyzes of both plants show that Extracts from both plants are highly effective in inhibiting or killing protozoa and nematodes in vitro, while purple viper insect loss is also moderately active against fungi.

The authors conclude that bustards are prime candidates for birds seeking specific plants for self-medication. But they warn that more research is needed.

“Conclusive proof of self-medication requires experimental protocols developed in biomedicine, veterinary medicine and pharmacology,” said Bautista-Sopelana.

Reference work: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.1027201/full

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Contact address of the environment department: crizclimatica@prensaiberica.es