​SAVE THE WUGS

What do they look like?

 

            The wug is a small teardrop shaped bird, usually of a greenish hue, but in some regions are more blue than green. Their wingspan is about 8 inches long, with the longest recorded wingspan being 10 inches. Their feet are black with two front facing claws and one back facing toe. This toe placement allows them to tightly grip tree limbs and the claws are built for catching small insects.

 

Where do they live?

 

            Wugs are most commonly found in Southwestern India along the coast. They make their nests out of local plants, but have more recently been observed making nests out of plastic and metal scraps from nearby garbage piles. These nests are woven tightly with only a small, quarter-sized, access hole near the bottom the nest. Wugs live in these nests primarily through the harsh monsoon seasons from June to September.

 

What do they eat?

 

            Wugs eat many of the small insects native to Southwestern India. While they mainly eat non-flying insects like ants and beetles, scientist have noted the wugs’ increasing diet of mosquitos. The wugs’ small size allows them to follow their prey further into human inhabited areas without interfering in human life. Baby wugs, called wuglets, can’t hunt on their own at an early age and so the parents bring live or regurgitated food back to their nests for the wuglets.

 

How do they reproduce?

 

            Wugs mate once a year forming a mated pair that stay together to raise their young. When mating season comes in early April, male wugs grow a set of bright red feathers across their chest to impress the females. When an interested female approaches a male, he will shake and fluff these feathers while hopping from left to right. If the female likes this show, she will let the male mate with her and then she will pluck out his red feathers. The pair then starts the process of building their nest for the year.

 

How do wugs raise their young?

 

            After a female wug is pregnant, she will lay 2 to 6 eggs in her nest. These eggs are kept warm by one or both parents sitting on the eggs at all times. After about 2 months, the eggs hatch and the baby wuglets emerge from their shells. The first thing they do is eat the shells they just hatch from in order to absorb the nutrients within. For the next 4 months, during the monsoon season, the wuglets eat the food their parents scavenge until the wuglets are about half their parent’s size. At this point, the wuglets make their way out the bottom of their nest, and walk out of the nest on to the tree the nest resides in. From here, their parents will teach them how to fly. This process is hard and 1 out of 2 wuglets do not learn to fly, falling to their deaths. For those that survive, they will continue to live in their parent’s nest until April when they go out to find their own mate.

 

What can wugs do for us?

 

            With their efficiency at hunting and killing mosquito infestations, scientists are looking to wugs to help around the globe. Scientist are looking at the possible effects of transplanting wugs into high mosquito population centers all across India and Africa and even in the United States. As a low impact species, they are a possible alternative to spraying harmful chemicals or introducing invasive species. A research project to test this possibility will begin in 2016 in South Africa with the help of researchers from all across the globe. If they succeed, the world can expect this little known species to appear in the news, helping to cut down on the number of malaria and West Nile virus cases, all around the globe.