囧研究：早起的鸟儿有虫吃？可不一定！

The early bird really does catch the worm… but he saves it for dinner.

早起的鸟儿真的是在捉虫，但却在晚上才吃掉。

Blue tits, great tits and other small garden birds scout for food in the morning but only return to eat it in the late afternoon, a study found.

研究发现，蓝山雀、大山雀和其他花园鸟类在早上找食，但只在临近傍晚的时候才吃掉。

The Oxford University researchers believe the strategy allows them to stock up on food while avoiding the clutches of predators.

牛津大学的研究人员认为，鸟类用这种方式来囤积食物，同时也为了免于被猎食动物吃掉。

A full belly in the morning would slow them down in the hunt for food and make them easy prey.

要是早上吃饱了的话，在找食的时候飞得慢，容易被猎食动物吃掉。

So they search out food when lean and lithe and then dine in the evening to ensure they have a big enough store of fat to survive through the night.

所以鸟类趁身子轻盈的时候，在早上出去寻找食物，却在晚上吃掉，这样能保证体内存储大量脂肪来过夜。

The ‘early bird’ strategy was revealed in an experiment in which over 2,000 birds were fitted with tiny radio tags which activated when they landed on feeders hidden in Wytham Woods, near Oxford.

针对超过2000只鸟的实验揭示了这种“早起鸟” 捕食策略方式，试验中给鸟儿安装了微型无线电标签，把喂食器藏在牛津附近的威萨姆森林里，鸟儿只要落在喂食器上微型无线电标签就会被激活。

The feeders were moved around over the course of the day and the researchers noted when the birds landed on them. This revealed that the birds were much better at finding the feeders’ new locations in the morning. However, they waited until the afternoon to get tucked in.

白天，研究人员会移动喂食器的位置，观察鸟儿落在喂食器上的情况。经观察发现鸟类在早上更容易找到喂食器的新位置。不过，他们等到下午才把捕来的虫子吃掉。

The researchers said the complex strategy acts as an insurance policy, with birds remaining light yet still able to get enough fat to survive the night. It is particularly important in winter when the risks of predation are high and just one day without food can make the difference between life and death for small birds.

研究人员说，这种捕食策略复杂一些则保险一些，鸟类要在保持身子轻盈的同时还要保证过夜所需的脂肪量充足。 特别是冬季，捕食风险很高，小鸟就一天没有吃的，就得面临被饿死的境地。

Zoologist Damien Farine said: ‘Birds have to store body fat to avoid starving during the cold winter nights, but this can make them slower and less manoeuvrable so they are more likely to be caught by predators.

动物学家Damien Farine说：“鸟类体内储存脂肪为了免于在寒冷的冬夜里挨饿受冻，但吃饱了身子不够灵活就会飞得慢，所以，更有可能被猎食动物吃掉。”

‘So there is a trade-off, where birds need to remain lean enough in order to “outrun” their predators during the day but also store enough fat to survive each night.’ Writing in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, he added that the study shows that rather than ‘idly waiting’ to until the afternoon, the birds start searching out food in the morning.

“所以，鸟类也要遵循权衡法则，为了‘逃脱’被捕食动物吃掉，就要保持身子轻盈，还要在白天储存够过夜的脂肪。” 该研究报告发表在《英国皇家学会生物学快报》杂志上，他还补充说，据研究鸟儿们并不是“无所事事”地空等到下午，它们从早上就开始寻找食物。

‘Our results show these birds display very different patterns of food discovery in the morning and afternoon; very few new food sources were found during the afternoon, whereas nearly every new food source we put out during the morning was quickly discovered.

“我们的研究结果显示这些鸟类在早上和下午找食物的模式大不一样，在下午很少能找到新的食物源，而我们在早上放出去的食物几乎每一个新的食物源都很快就被发现了。”

‘It supports the idea of an ‘early bird’ strategy of scouting for food early on so they can return to feast a couple of hours before dusk in preparation for a long winter’s night.’

“这项研究为‘早起鸟’利用早上找食的策略性方法提供了实验依据，这样它们可以赶在黄昏前飞回来吃掉为度过漫长的冬夜做准备。”