Mutant Complexity in Meridellian Weewoos

     Introduction

     Weewoo behaviour has fascinated me long before we began studying them almost two decades ago. They’re fierce defenders of their nest despite their diminutive size, talented minstrels with a wide variety of long, sweeping songs, and resourceful architects of ornate, sometimes mosaic-like nests.

     Part of what makes them such reliable study subjects is that they respond well to Neopian-made structures called nest boxes. Between 4-6ft (1.21-1.83m) off the ground, these boxes contain 1.5in (35mm) entry holes that allow for increased Weewoo use while also excluding other, larger species. With these boxes, we can have easy and regular access into what is an otherwise private world. In the wild, they use what are called natural cavities for their nests—and before you ask, not the dental kind—these are naturally occurring holes and hollowed out spaces in trees made by other petpets. Simulating these natural cavities has been very successful in their conservation and study.

     The above can all be said of most Weewoo sub-species. Despite the differences in nesting material, behaviour is relatively consistent among most Weewoos. The mutant Weewoo, however, is an entirely different story. This is a summary of known research on mutant Weewoo physical traits, life history, diet, and song structure. Knowledge of this sub-species is limited and warrants further research.

     Here I will detail a case study of 10 pairs and one trio found throughout field sites within Brightvale and Meridell. Six pairs nested in and around cliffsides, an otherwise unheard-of habitat for Weewoos to nest, and four pairs and the trio created unique, hanging basket nests within trees over water. I checked each nest weekly for a total of twenty weeks and took note of egg numbers, number of hatchlings, and behavioural patterns of the parents and offspring. On the seventh day after hatching, the young Weewoos were fitted with a small aluminium band containing a unique numerical code. Colleagues of mine who work extensively on avian petpet banding (including Dr. Corvus of BVU) are hoping to recapture a few of these individuals during the migration season. As of yet, the mutant sub-species’ migration habits are unknown.

     Physical features

     Mutant Weewoo plumage varies in colour with 75% that are a shade of mossy green. A few individuals were bright, neon colours; two were pink, the others, light blue. One particularly fascinating individual glowed in low light; we plan to test this petpet for gamma radiation output in the future.

     Their bills are raptor-like and have a sharp point. Likewise, they have taloned feet, which are used to grasp and handle prey. For all but one individual in this study, their tail is long, slender, and comes to a triangular point. They use this for quick manoeuvring in the forest or thick brush. The one outlier had soft, green down where the retices or tail feathers would normally be.

     Many have red eyes that vary in colour intensity. Some show variable specks of yellow, blue, or orange in the iris. A few individuals, all of whom were tree-dwelling Weewoos, had lime-green eyes.

     Females, on average, are larger than males, and this holds true in most mutant Weewoos. In a few cases, the female was more than 20% larger than the male, but most of the individuals studied showed less than 10% difference. As such, females, on average, weigh more than males.

     Mutant Weewoo Diet

     Diet is variable with mutant Weewoos. Unlike most sub-species that tend to eat mostly petpetpets and berries, mutants tend to be more predatory. They have been recorded predating upon small petpets such as Mortogs or even the occasional Spyven. One startling example came from one of the tree-dwelling pairs that had hunted down another Weewoo to feed their offspring. The offspring of that nest survived without incident and fledged. It is unclear as to why this behaviour was noted or if it will be passed down to the offspring through learned behaviour. As stated in previous research by our lab in year 18, Weewoos have a larger hippocampal region than petpets of equal size, which provides evidence that they contain higher intelligence for decision-making, a fitting choice for the now mascot of the Neopian Times.

     Evidence of other petpet predation has been found in the nest, including Karren, Cyodrake, and even the rare Symol. Faster, nimbler petpets or those with enough bulk (such as Turmacs) appear to evade predation by mutant Weewoo).

     There was one record of a young Crokabek being predated upon. That Weewoo nest (which had been a tree-dwelling pair) was subsequently bombarded by a large family of Crokabeks until it was ultimately abandoned. Typically, cliffside-nesting Weewoos tended towards smaller prey items. Nests higher up the cliffs ate smaller, more insect-like prey that weighed less and were less of a physical burden to transport.

     In colder months, mutant Weewoos change diets from primarily predatory to that of scavenged scraps from the rubbish piles and also berries. But unlike the berries other Weewoos gravitate towards, mutant Weewoos prefer the waxy, sometimes mildly toxic ornamental berries grown in gardens. Agricultural refuse has also, albeit rarely, been recorded as part of their diet in particularly harsh winters.

     Behavior Near the Nest

     Unlike the majority of Weewoo subspecies, mutant Weewoos are comparatively docile. It is common for other sub-species to divebomb biologists (or any Neopian who is misfortunate enough to get too close to their nest) in the defense of their young while uttering shrill “squee-woo” calls. Expecting this behaviour, my team and I set up large trampolines underneath our ladders in the case of sudden and aggressive bombardment from the petpet. Upon approaching the mutant Weewoo nest, however, the parents made curious chirping noises; a few landed on my shoulders or head. When weekly egg or nestling counts were made, I lifted Weewoo off of their nest seven different times. The petpets tilted their heads and gurgled at me, but none of them exhibited aggressive or stress behaviour (bill-clacking, excessive blinking, heavy breathing, and dive-bombing).

     Music and songs

     Most Weewoos are known for their haunting, yet beautiful “weeeee… wooooo…” song. This tune carries a long distance, which confers an advantage for territorial pairs defending their nesting site from would-be invaders. A more melodious version of this song is often heard by Weewoos in the spring as they search for nesting partners. Mutant Weewoo lack the timbre and cadence of their non-mutant counterparts and instead sing a variety of whistles and clucks that tend to start high, then drop into a hurried chatter. Males tend to sing higher and shriller than do females, who make twirling, almost looping songs that can at times end abruptly. There is no current consensus as to why mutant song structure is vastly different from that of other Weewoos; it remains an unsolved mystery to the field of ecology.

     Young Weewoos begin imitating their parents approximately 5 days after hatching and by the time they have fledged, master their song.

     Weewoo Case Study

     Cliffside Weewoos

     All of the nests obtained were at least 30ft (9.14m) off the ground with one pair nesting at 65ft (19.8m). Pairs chose to nest in natural crevices and used the cliff overhangs as a defensive barrier. They built bowl-shaped nests; both parents carried globs of mud with their bills and patted down the substrate until it was appropriately shaped. Number of eggs varied among the couples from just two—low for this species—to eight eggs. In one case, a female laid an egg in another petpet’s nest while the parents were away, making this the first documented case of instraspecific brood parasitism in this species. This egg was successfully hatched and raised with the other offspring.

     Only one pair renested throughout the season and had three eggs, all of which survived until fledgling. Offspring fledging success ranged from just one individual in a nest that had three eggs to all eight eggs laid in nest laid lower to the ground. Typically, higher cliffside nests had fewer eggs than those that were lower, and also had lower overall nesting success. We hypothesized that this was due to the increased difficulty of ferrying enough food to feed the young.

     Both parents took turns incubating the eggs, with the male (identified best by call note or contact call) spending significantly less time on the eggs than the female in 5 or the 6 cases. One of the six nests was the opposite, with the male almost exclusively incubating the nest while the female did most of the foraging.

     Pairs that had higher nesting success were also ones that partook in allopreening. This behaviour involves the systematic maintenance of the other petpet’s feathers and the removal of potentially harmful feather parasites. Upon completing this behaviour, both individuals would coo at each other and bob their heads in quick succession before one of the individuals flew off to search for more food.

     The more offspring hatched, the more frequent both parents sang. According to Quinn et al. in Year 19, young petpets may begin learning their species’ song in the egg. We provide further evidence for this finding with our study as well. Individuals that sang more frequently on or near the nest also had offspring with more complex songs at the time of fledging. Pairs that nested higher up the cliffs tended to sing more frequently, leading to more talented songster offspring than that of the lower pairs. We hypothesized that this was due to predator accessibility to the nest as a few petpets have been known to historically predate on Weewoo nests (particularly Drackonack).

     Tree-nesting Pairs

     Nesting pairs built at heights that ranged from 8ft (2.43m) to 20ft (6.096m). All pairs that nested in trees built highly complex basket nests. This behaviour has not been observed in any other sub-species of Weewoo. Nesting materials included: twine, hay, Babaa wool, Whinny hair, and tall grass. Nearly all nests hung over bodies of water, with three of the four choosing small, fast-moving streams and the fourth a large pond. The trio chose to nest high in a young elm tree (~10 years) over a large, rocky riverbank.

     Egg numbers varied from 3 to 6. The trio had the highest at 6 while two of the other hanging nests had four, one had three, and the other five. All four nesting pairs, barring the one with total nest failure due to Crokabek predation, fledged two to three offspring. The trio fledged all 6 offspring.

     Unlike the cliffside nests, the males did most of the incubation (over 80% of the time) while the females foraged. Both male and female sang at or near the nest; juvenile petpets gradually learned the songs by repeating phrases heard from either parent. The female defended the nest from potential rivals by divebombing, screeching, and in one instance, using her sharp bill to peck at the back of a potential rival petpet that had wandered too close to the nest.

     The trio, containing one female and two male Weewoos, took turns systematically incubating, foraging, and defending their territory. If a threat was detected by the lookout petpet, the individual not on the nest would aid in their defense. Suffice to say that our biologist team was never among the apparent threats of these Weewoo. Not once were we attacked. All three individuals took turns feeding and preening the offspring and would often make low “wee-coo” noises to soothe restless young ones. Food was delivered frequently by the two foraging petpets while the other would aid in feeding. Noted before, all 6 offspring fledged successfully and appeared to have excellent feather condition at time of fledging (feathers all appeared bright and healthy, no sign of mites or damage). This is the first known instance of a trio in Weewoos, but this behaviour has been seen before in Cyodrake.

     Conclusion

     Weewoo behaviour continues to impress and astound us with its variability, and with no other sub-species is this more evident than in the mutant Weewoo. Not only do they nest in unusual locations, but they also take part in behaviours never before seen in other sub-species around the world. They are resourceful, using their habitat substrate or nearby materials to make their nests. They are devoted parents with high investment in care and preening (especially among the cliff-dwelling individuals).

     We plan to investigate further how diversity in physical features affects nesting success and, in partnering with the Faerieland and Haunted Woods avian banding teams, we hope to determine how far Weewoos migrate. Our partner with Virtupets College has been in the process of creating solar-powered tracking backpacks for adult Weewoos to wear (they are very light-weight) to determine their migration paths and location of wintering grounds, both of which are currently unknown.

     Acknowledgements

     I would like to thank my brave team of stalwart undergraduates who aided in taking notes, setting up banding stations, and equipment hauling. And an enormous thank you to my graduate student and Meridell University lab manager, Melody, for her undying devotion to research in all manner of weather, plumes of biting insects, and faulty equipment. Your good humour pulled us through the toughest days with a smile.

     Dr. Luca DeVale, Professor of Biology, Meridell College