How exactly do birds get drunk eating fruit? Fermentation should be anaerobic












2












$begingroup$


The Washington Post article Drunk birds are causing havoc in a Minnesota town. Police say they’ll sober up soon. describes birds becoming intoxicated after eating berries:




“The Gilbert Police Department has received several reports of birds that appear to be ‘under the influence’ flying into windows, cars and acting confused,” Police Chief Ty Techar wrote in a statement Tuesday. An early frost meant that berries had fermented earlier than usual, he explained, and birds were eating them and getting drunk.



Incidents around town involving intoxicated birds appear to be more prevalent than in past years, Techar added, because many have not yet migrated south. “It appears that some birds are getting a little more ‘tipsy’ than normal,” he wrote. “Generally, younger birds’ livers cannot handle the toxins as efficiently as more mature birds.”




A few supporting videos:




  • ABC TV: Drunk birds are flying into windows, cars

  • TIME: Drunk Birds Are Flying High In Gilbert, Minnesota | TIME


Is the fermentation happening to the berries while on the tree or on the ground as the police suggest, or is it really after being ingested by the birds? How is an anaerobic environment produced for fermentation into alcohol but not subsequent conversion to vinegar?



Humans are a clever species, on par with some birds. They are known to collect the berries and ferment them first before ingesting, and will forage for a trap to let gas escape but keep the oxygen out. Have birds found a better way?



enter image description here Source






ornithology behaviour fermentation







share|improve this question











$endgroup$

















    2












    $begingroup$


    The Washington Post article Drunk birds are causing havoc in a Minnesota town. Police say they’ll sober up soon. describes birds becoming intoxicated after eating berries:




    “The Gilbert Police Department has received several reports of birds that appear to be ‘under the influence’ flying into windows, cars and acting confused,” Police Chief Ty Techar wrote in a statement Tuesday. An early frost meant that berries had fermented earlier than usual, he explained, and birds were eating them and getting drunk.



    Incidents around town involving intoxicated birds appear to be more prevalent than in past years, Techar added, because many have not yet migrated south. “It appears that some birds are getting a little more ‘tipsy’ than normal,” he wrote. “Generally, younger birds’ livers cannot handle the toxins as efficiently as more mature birds.”




    A few supporting videos:




    • ABC TV: Drunk birds are flying into windows, cars

    • TIME: Drunk Birds Are Flying High In Gilbert, Minnesota | TIME


    Is the fermentation happening to the berries while on the tree or on the ground as the police suggest, or is it really after being ingested by the birds? How is an anaerobic environment produced for fermentation into alcohol but not subsequent conversion to vinegar?



    Humans are a clever species, on par with some birds. They are known to collect the berries and ferment them first before ingesting, and will forage for a trap to let gas escape but keep the oxygen out. Have birds found a better way?



    enter image description here Source






    ornithology behaviour fermentation







    share|improve this question











    $endgroup$















      2












      2








      2





      $begingroup$


      The Washington Post article Drunk birds are causing havoc in a Minnesota town. Police say they’ll sober up soon. describes birds becoming intoxicated after eating berries:




      “The Gilbert Police Department has received several reports of birds that appear to be ‘under the influence’ flying into windows, cars and acting confused,” Police Chief Ty Techar wrote in a statement Tuesday. An early frost meant that berries had fermented earlier than usual, he explained, and birds were eating them and getting drunk.



      Incidents around town involving intoxicated birds appear to be more prevalent than in past years, Techar added, because many have not yet migrated south. “It appears that some birds are getting a little more ‘tipsy’ than normal,” he wrote. “Generally, younger birds’ livers cannot handle the toxins as efficiently as more mature birds.”




      A few supporting videos:




      • ABC TV: Drunk birds are flying into windows, cars

      • TIME: Drunk Birds Are Flying High In Gilbert, Minnesota | TIME


      Is the fermentation happening to the berries while on the tree or on the ground as the police suggest, or is it really after being ingested by the birds? How is an anaerobic environment produced for fermentation into alcohol but not subsequent conversion to vinegar?



      Humans are a clever species, on par with some birds. They are known to collect the berries and ferment them first before ingesting, and will forage for a trap to let gas escape but keep the oxygen out. Have birds found a better way?



      enter image description here Source






      ornithology behaviour fermentation







      share|improve this question











      $endgroup$




      The Washington Post article Drunk birds are causing havoc in a Minnesota town. Police say they’ll sober up soon. describes birds becoming intoxicated after eating berries:




      “The Gilbert Police Department has received several reports of birds that appear to be ‘under the influence’ flying into windows, cars and acting confused,” Police Chief Ty Techar wrote in a statement Tuesday. An early frost meant that berries had fermented earlier than usual, he explained, and birds were eating them and getting drunk.



      Incidents around town involving intoxicated birds appear to be more prevalent than in past years, Techar added, because many have not yet migrated south. “It appears that some birds are getting a little more ‘tipsy’ than normal,” he wrote. “Generally, younger birds’ livers cannot handle the toxins as efficiently as more mature birds.”




      A few supporting videos:




      • ABC TV: Drunk birds are flying into windows, cars

      • TIME: Drunk Birds Are Flying High In Gilbert, Minnesota | TIME


      Is the fermentation happening to the berries while on the tree or on the ground as the police suggest, or is it really after being ingested by the birds? How is an anaerobic environment produced for fermentation into alcohol but not subsequent conversion to vinegar?



      Humans are a clever species, on par with some birds. They are known to collect the berries and ferment them first before ingesting, and will forage for a trap to let gas escape but keep the oxygen out. Have birds found a better way?



      enter image description here Source






      ornithology behaviour fermentation




      ornithology behaviour fermentation






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 3 hours ago









      user237650

      2,02131747




      2,02131747










      asked 3 hours ago









      uhohuhoh

      1,313933




      1,313933






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          2












          $begingroup$

          The insides of fruits are relatively anaerobic environments. Natural fermentation, as in berries that get birds intoxicated, is primarily from yeast, and it seems most likely that humans recognized this process before intentionally encouraging fermentation of anything. Natural fermentation reaching high ethanol concentrations occurs especially when berries high in sugar are frozen and then thawed.




          Dudley, R. (2004). Ethanol, fruit ripening, and the historical origins of human alcoholism in primate frugivory. Integrative and comparative biology, 44(4), 315-323.



          Fitzgerald, S. D., Sullivan, J. M., & Everson, R. J. (1990). Suspected ethanol toxicosis in two wild cedar waxwings. Avian Diseases, 488-490.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            Interesting! I usually think of the inside of fruit as sterile, but maybe that's not exactly the case. Sounds like the basis of a new question!
            $endgroup$
            – uhoh
            2 hours ago













          Your Answer





          StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
          return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
          StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
          StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
          });
          });
          }, "mathjax-editing");

          StackExchange.ready(function() {
          var channelOptions = {
          tags: "".split(" "),
          id: "375"
          };
          initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
          // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
          if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
          createEditor();
          });
          }
          else {
          createEditor();
          }
          });

          function createEditor() {
          StackExchange.prepareEditor({
          heartbeatType: 'answer',
          autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
          convertImagesToLinks: false,
          noModals: true,
          showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
          reputationToPostImages: null,
          bindNavPrevention: true,
          postfix: "",
          imageUploader: {
          brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
          contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
          allowUrls: true
          },
          noCode: true, onDemand: true,
          discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
          ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
          });


          }
          });














          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fbiology.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f80705%2fhow-exactly-do-birds-get-drunk-eating-fruit-fermentation-should-be-anaerobic%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown

























          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes








          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          2












          $begingroup$

          The insides of fruits are relatively anaerobic environments. Natural fermentation, as in berries that get birds intoxicated, is primarily from yeast, and it seems most likely that humans recognized this process before intentionally encouraging fermentation of anything. Natural fermentation reaching high ethanol concentrations occurs especially when berries high in sugar are frozen and then thawed.




          Dudley, R. (2004). Ethanol, fruit ripening, and the historical origins of human alcoholism in primate frugivory. Integrative and comparative biology, 44(4), 315-323.



          Fitzgerald, S. D., Sullivan, J. M., & Everson, R. J. (1990). Suspected ethanol toxicosis in two wild cedar waxwings. Avian Diseases, 488-490.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            Interesting! I usually think of the inside of fruit as sterile, but maybe that's not exactly the case. Sounds like the basis of a new question!
            $endgroup$
            – uhoh
            2 hours ago


















          2












          $begingroup$

          The insides of fruits are relatively anaerobic environments. Natural fermentation, as in berries that get birds intoxicated, is primarily from yeast, and it seems most likely that humans recognized this process before intentionally encouraging fermentation of anything. Natural fermentation reaching high ethanol concentrations occurs especially when berries high in sugar are frozen and then thawed.




          Dudley, R. (2004). Ethanol, fruit ripening, and the historical origins of human alcoholism in primate frugivory. Integrative and comparative biology, 44(4), 315-323.



          Fitzgerald, S. D., Sullivan, J. M., & Everson, R. J. (1990). Suspected ethanol toxicosis in two wild cedar waxwings. Avian Diseases, 488-490.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            Interesting! I usually think of the inside of fruit as sterile, but maybe that's not exactly the case. Sounds like the basis of a new question!
            $endgroup$
            – uhoh
            2 hours ago
















          2












          2








          2





          $begingroup$

          The insides of fruits are relatively anaerobic environments. Natural fermentation, as in berries that get birds intoxicated, is primarily from yeast, and it seems most likely that humans recognized this process before intentionally encouraging fermentation of anything. Natural fermentation reaching high ethanol concentrations occurs especially when berries high in sugar are frozen and then thawed.




          Dudley, R. (2004). Ethanol, fruit ripening, and the historical origins of human alcoholism in primate frugivory. Integrative and comparative biology, 44(4), 315-323.



          Fitzgerald, S. D., Sullivan, J. M., & Everson, R. J. (1990). Suspected ethanol toxicosis in two wild cedar waxwings. Avian Diseases, 488-490.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$



          The insides of fruits are relatively anaerobic environments. Natural fermentation, as in berries that get birds intoxicated, is primarily from yeast, and it seems most likely that humans recognized this process before intentionally encouraging fermentation of anything. Natural fermentation reaching high ethanol concentrations occurs especially when berries high in sugar are frozen and then thawed.




          Dudley, R. (2004). Ethanol, fruit ripening, and the historical origins of human alcoholism in primate frugivory. Integrative and comparative biology, 44(4), 315-323.



          Fitzgerald, S. D., Sullivan, J. M., & Everson, R. J. (1990). Suspected ethanol toxicosis in two wild cedar waxwings. Avian Diseases, 488-490.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 2 hours ago









          Bryan KrauseBryan Krause

          18.7k23150




          18.7k23150












          • $begingroup$
            Interesting! I usually think of the inside of fruit as sterile, but maybe that's not exactly the case. Sounds like the basis of a new question!
            $endgroup$
            – uhoh
            2 hours ago




















          • $begingroup$
            Interesting! I usually think of the inside of fruit as sterile, but maybe that's not exactly the case. Sounds like the basis of a new question!
            $endgroup$
            – uhoh
            2 hours ago


















          $begingroup$
          Interesting! I usually think of the inside of fruit as sterile, but maybe that's not exactly the case. Sounds like the basis of a new question!
          $endgroup$
          – uhoh
          2 hours ago






          $begingroup$
          Interesting! I usually think of the inside of fruit as sterile, but maybe that's not exactly the case. Sounds like the basis of a new question!
          $endgroup$
          – uhoh
          2 hours ago




















          draft saved

          draft discarded




















































          Thanks for contributing an answer to Biology Stack Exchange!


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid …



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




          draft saved


          draft discarded














          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fbiology.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f80705%2fhow-exactly-do-birds-get-drunk-eating-fruit-fermentation-should-be-anaerobic%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown





















































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown

































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown







          -

          Popular posts from this blog

          A CLEAN and SIMPLE way to add appendices to Table of Contents and bookmarks

          Image
          0 I found a lot of questions abount appendices and ToC. Many users want appendices to be grouped in an Appendix part, however some problems arise with ToC, hyperref, PDF viewer bookmarks, and so on. There are different solutions which require extra packages, command patching and other extra code, however none of them satisfies me. I almost found an easy way to accomplish a good result, where appendices are added to bookmarks in the right way and hyperref links point to the right page. However, the number of the "Appendix" part page is wrong (it's the number of appendix A). Is there any EASY way to fix that? This is a MWE: documentclass{book} usepackage[nottoc,notlot,notlof]{tocbibind} usepackage{hyperref} begin{document} frontmatter tableofcontents mainmatter part{First} chapter{...
          Read more

          Calculate evaluation metrics using cross_val_predict sklearn

          Image
          1 In the sklearn.model_selection.cross_val_predict page it is stated: Generate cross-validated estimates for each input data point. It is not appropriate to pass these predictions into an evaluation metric. Can someone explain what does it mean? If this gives estimate of Y (y prediction) for every Y (true Y), why can't I calculate metrics such as RMSE or coefficient of determination using these results? python scikit-learn cross-validation share | improve this question edited Nov 28 '18 at 17:52 desertnaut 20.3k 7 43 79 ...
          Read more

          Insert data from modal to MySQL (multiple modal on website)

          Image
          0 I have problem with inserting data to MySQL from modal. My modal: <a href="#" class="badge badge-pill badge-success">6 komentarzy</a> <a href="#" class="badge badge-pill badge-danger">brak komentarzy</a> <a data-toggle="modal" href="#add_desk_comm_{$desk_['desk_id']}" data-target="#add_desk_comm_{$desk_['desk_id']}" class="ediiit">(dodaj)</a> <div class="modal fade" id="add_desk_comm_{$desk_['desk_id']}" tabindex="-1" role="dialog" aria-labelledby="edit_printer" aria-hidden="true"> <div class="modal-dialog" role="document"> ...
          Read more