It appears that the environmental effects on abirds’ habitat can have a rather shocking andcontroversial result.
A recent study seems to show that Mercury poisoning of birds can lead to the male birds becoming homosexual!
In the study, a group of Ibises were given various levels of Methyl mercury in their diet and their behavior was monitored.
The effects of the poisoning seemed to showthat the male birds were exhibiting a much reduced interest in the females as well as trying to mate with other male birds. In addition, they also tried to build nests together. Something usually reserved for heterosexual pairs.
Lower levels of poisoning led to the heterosexual birds courting far less and showing odd patterns of behavior.
It is stated that this effect is likely to be seen in other birds and potentially other animal groups!
It makes me wonder just what chemicals andpollution in our diets might do to us especially when at critical stages of life such as developing in the womb. If Methyl mercuryincresases the likelyhood of homosexuality inour feathered friends, what could more dangerous levels of common chemicals do to a developing baby? Certainly food for thought.
The birds were split into four groups. One group ate food with 0.3 parts per million methyl mercury, which most US states wouldregard as too high for human consumption. A second group got 0.1 ppm, and the third 0.05 ppm, a low dose that wild birds would be exposed to frequently. The fourth group received none.
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