To hate

Carrion crow (left) hates a female sparrowhawk.

Lesser black-backed gull (left) hates a short-eared owl .

Hate (English: mobbing ) is a zoological , especially an ornithological term. This is to be understood as the behavior of many bird species , using loud alarm calls, false attacks and other methods to drive away potential enemies and to warn their fellow species about them.

In the past, this behavior was used for hut hunting by chasing owls such as B. tied the eagle owl to a stake in order to be able to comfortably catch or shoot hating birds, especially ravens and birds of prey .

The hatred is particularly common among seagulls , crows , thrushes, and various other passerine birds . Often the hatred is not limited to alarm calls, but the intruder is approached directly, often actually attacked. Different birds of prey , owls and skuas , cuckoos , but also mammals and snakes are targets of this behavior. Since their hunting success often depends on the element of surprise, they usually break off the hunt after being discovered. Birds hate particularly intensely during the breeding season. Hating birds rarely take the risk of becoming a victim themselves, as they usually hate in association and the intruder is closely watched. However, there can also be hating towards conspecifics (e.g. with black-headed gulls ), as they sometimes attack the eggs and chicks of the same breeding colony.

Gulls accompany hating often by vomiting of stomach contents to the victim, in the Fieldfare unerring is Kotspritzen observed.

Forms of hatred also occur in mammals and insects. Different types of squirrels and makis hate tree-climbing snakes intensely.

literature

E. Bezzel, R. Prinzinger: Ornithology. 2nd Edition. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8001-2597-8 .