[CH] Chile Birds

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Hey folks,
This was in the food section of the Los Angeles Times a few weeks ago
and have been meaning to post it. This article falls into the "I could
have told you that!" category.
Personally, I believe that birds eat peppers cause they can. Plain and
simple. Enjoy!

"All wild chile plants bear ferociously hot pods which stick up abocve
the leaves so birds can see them.  That's because in nabure, chile seeds
are mostly spread in bird droppings.  This is so well known that tiny,
very hot chiles are known as "bird peppers" in countless languages.
    You'd think that the fact that birds must like hot chiles, but
scientists seem to find this idea vaguely scandalous.  About 20 years
ago, a zoologist actually argued that parrots wellknowntaste for chiles
is attributable to an evolutionary contract:  Central American chile
plants would make parrot flesh taste bad to mammals.
    This starts to look silly when you ask which mammals parrots  are
afraid of. (Bats? Flying squirrels?)  Even worse, it turns out that not
just parrots but all sorts of birds, all around the world, have a taste
for chiles.  A couple of years ago, researchers at Texas A&M drove the
final nail in the coffin by putting chiles in chicken feed to see
whether chickens could be internally pre-spiced, as it were.  But when
the birds were cooked, they didn't taste spicy.  Possibly chile plants
just want to keep mammals fromeating the pods.  But, why should they
bother?  Birds beat mammals to most fruits as it is.  and anyway, why
wouldn't chile plants waht animals to spread their seeds?  Sensless
prejudice?
    Of course, birds might actually like something about cile peppers.
About 20 years ago, some scientists tried to check out this possibility
by injectiog red-winged blackbirds with chile extract to see wether this
would make them prefer chile- flavored water, but it was a badly
designed test that proved nothing, apart fromthe fact that red-winged
blackbirds hate it when you rub chiles in their eyes.  One day we may
find out what birds like about chiles, and it might just be what we
like..the thrill of the burn.."

Robert L

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