Gypsies, tramps and thieves: the secret underworld of birds

Which birds would best suit Cher’s lyrics to this iconic song?

The gypsy: the Greater Sage-grouse, who love flashing their boobies as they dance!

(For this example, I chose a bird that likes dancing in the open plains to represent a gypsy. It turns out that ‘gypsy’ is sometimes seen as a rude term for the Romani people. But ultimately, I took the term to mean a nomadic or free-spirited person that likes to dance.)

Image credit: Earth Justice

Talk about getting the party started! These cool birds dance to the beat of their own drums - literally! In order to attract female birds, the Greater Sage-grouse will they pop their two boob-like air sacs during a mating ritual. As the air sacs pop and swing about in a boobilicious way, they make a sort of popping sound that alerts others to their presence. That sound can travel up to 3km! That’s around the distance of 100 car parking lots, stacked next to each other.

The Greater Sage-grouse is found in the sagebrush habitats in parts of the United States and Canada. Sagebrush is a type of short, woody and herbaceous shrub.

All eyes on me!

Greater Sage-grouses love dancing! They’re known for their elaborate courtship rituals. Every year in spring, males will congregate in ‘leks’ (a communal area to perform mating dances. You can think of it like a male strip club!) and perform this ‘strutting display’, complete with expanding air sacs and pop tunes, for females.

Image credit: American Bird Conservatory. Many predators are attracted to these groovy birds! From the ground, the birds have to watch for coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. Even more predators will prey on sage-grouse nests, including badgers, weasels, ravens, crows, magpies, and snakes.

The most alpha male Sage-grouse will be located in the centre of the lek, and after his dance, will actually mate with around 80% of the females watching. There are generally only one to two alpha males in the lek at one time, and only they will be able to mate. The other birds get nothing!

The tramp: the sexually promiscuous Superb Fairywren, whose chicks are often fathered, and raised, by many different dad-birds!

Superb Fairywrens are one of the most promiscuous birds ever documented, yet ‘tramp’ doesn’t seem the right brand for this bird; perhaps ‘swinger’ would have been better.

Image credit: Wildlife Wonders. The Superb Fairy-wren is native to Australia, and found in open eucalypt woodland forests. It inhabits dense understory, and is usually seen in pairs or small groups.

They are a tiny species of bird living in Australia that are very into polygamy! Although pairs bond socially for life, both male and female birds regularly mate with others. I’ve always loved the way they look - so tiny, yet so eye-catching, with their brilliant light and dark blue heads.

When the chicks come around, the dad-bird may be surprised to learn that he’s not the father: researchers studying the mating habits of these birds have found that 95% of broods have at least two bird-dads.

Broods is the term used to define a nest of chick. For example, if a bird laid 5 eggs in November 2022, that's one brood of 5 chicks.

But it doesn’t end there! Young birds are often raised not by the mum-and-dad pair alone, but also by a group of other males (who just so happened, have also mated with the pair's female!) Technically, Superb Fairy-Wrens are considered cooperative breeders, and the parent birds have a whole host a young helpers to assist them in raising their chicks.

Image credit: Flickr. Superb Fairywrens’ living conditions can be harsh. Young males stay at home as helpers because there is a permanent shortage of females, and of territories to go to.

So I’m not shaming these birds for choosing to live their lives the way they want to. In fact, I think it’s smart: Superb Fairywrens also always forage in groups, and this is very helpful; insects that were disturbed by one bird may be caught by another.

This could be because their habitats are not overly abundant, and the Fairywrens have to work together to increase the chance of their family’s survival. In fact, if these young, ‘helper’ male Fairywrens were to strike off and start their own families, there would not be enough food to go around.

The thief: the Fork-tailed Drongo, who mimics alarm calls to steal other animals’ food!

Why forage for your own food when you can just steal it? That’s the motto of the Fork-tailed Drongo, which can be found in parts of Africa. Almost a quarter of their daily caloric intake is made up of stolen food.

Image credit: eBird. The Fork-tailed Drongo is known for his ability to deceptively mimic other bird alarm calls in order for a certain animal to flee the scene so he can steal their food, also known as kleptoparasitism.

How does this work?

To start with, Fork-tailed Drongos actually have a mostly good relationship with the other animals in their African habitat. The Drongo sits perched high on a tree and behaves much like your overly reactive dog who’s seen the deliveryman: if they see someone approaching, they’ll begin making a ruckus, to warn you of their presence.

For the most part, the Fork-tailed Drongo’s warning calls are legitimate, and the meerkats are grateful for their intervention. But the deceptive Drongos have learned that if they spot their meerkat friend about to tuck into a tasty grub dinner, they can make a ruckus even when no predators are coming, to scam their unsuspecting ‘friends’ into dropping their dinner and scampering away. And then, one false alarm call later, the Drongo has a tasty, (free!) morsel to make off with!

Drongo: 1, Meerkat: 0

Image credit: Britannica. A mob of meerkats standing at attention; looking for danger.

(For us humans, I guess this could be the equivalent of yelling, “Fire! Fire!” at a restaurant, and then sneaking back in to eat all of the unattended food after everyone else has run away!)

There is such thing as abusing one’s trust, however

Eventually, however, like the “Boy who cried wolf”, the victims wisen up and begin ignoring the Drongo’s alarm calls. When that happens, the Fork-tailed Drongo employs another dirty trick: they imitate the meerkat’s alarm call, or the alarm call of another unrelated species!

Fork-tailed Drongos are intelligent birds; brilliant tricksters who are capable of something called “vocal mimicry”. Like how a human can meow like a cat or bleat like a goat, Fork-tailed Drongos have memorised an arsenal of other African species’ alarm calls.

These birds have to learn these calls over the course of their lifetime, though. Researchers have found that Fork-tailed Drongos can make up to 51 different alarm calls - such as those of the meerkat, and other birds like the pied-babbler, and starlings.

Since it requires a lot of work to study, memorise and mimic these other sounds, I’d say the Fork-tailed Drongos have earned their stolen dinners!

Image credit: Getty Images. A Fork-tailed Drongo feasts on its kill. Was it stolen, or gainfully procured?

As a kid, I loved Cher’s lyrics for her song Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves, and how it addressed themes of racism, teenage pregnancy and prostitution. Nobody wants to be born in difficult circumstances, and everyone makes the best of the cards they have been dealt.

We may judge some birds (or people) for things such as having multiple baby-daddies. But when you take a step back, you realise these birds have had to adapt to their harsh circumstances by adopting certain behaviours. (But also, some birds like the Drongo are just assholes…)

Image credit: eBird. Fork-tailed Drongos are also notorious for displaying aggressive and fearless behaviour when their nest or young are threatened - these birds will attack and chase off much larges animals, including birds of prey.

I hope we don’t judge too quickly and harshly when we don’t know the full story behind one’s actions!