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These Shameless Birds Steal Hair From Live Predators Like It's No Big Deal - ScienceAlert
Aug 02, 2021 42 secs
Birds' nests are snug little places: safe, warm, and lined with soft materials to keep the vulnerable babies comfortable and protected.

For the tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) and its closest relatives, that material is often the fur of mammalian carnivores, which scientists had thought pillaged from dead animals, or opportunistically snagged when the animals shed.

In addition, several other videos showed other bird species stealing fur, in whom such behavior had not been scientifically documented.

But, although the literature may have scant records, other resources suggest that birds stealing fur from living mammals is quite well known among the general public: Tufted titmice are described as occasional fur thieves on the Cornell Lab webpage for the species, and in Australia, yellow-faced honeyeaters purloin fuzz from snoozing koalas.

The researchers have named the behavior kleptotrichy, from Greek for "theft" and "hair"?

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