Question

gallirex porphyreolophus grus canadensis zenadna meloda arctitis hypoleucos coccyzus americanus while observing birds for a biology class, a group of students noticed a western sandpiper (calidris mauri), a bird of the order charadriiformes (shorebirds), slowly move away, make loud noises, and feign an injured wing as the group approached the birds ground nest. researching this behavior, the students learned that this phenomenon is commonly referred to as “broken - wing display” and is meant to lure predators away from the nesting site and toward a seemingly vulnerable adult bird. upon learning of other birds that also exhibit the behavior they had observed, the students hypothesized that the phenomenon is exclusive to shorebirds. which choice best describes data from the table that weaken the students claim? a unlike the common sandpiper, the south american snipe is not known to perform broken - wing display, even though both are in the order charadriiformes. b neither the west peruvian dove nor the south american snipe is known to perform broken - wing display. c the common sandpiper, in the order charadriiformes, is known to perform broken - wing display and the west peruvian dove, in the order columbiformes, is not. d both the yellow - billed cuckoo and the sandhill crane are known to perform broken - wing display.

Explanation:

The students' claim is that the broken - wing display is exclusive to shorebirds. To weaken this claim, we need to find evidence that non - shorebirds also perform the broken - wing display. The common sandpiper is a shorebird, but the West Peruvian dove (not a shorebird) and the South American snipe (not a shorebird) are not known to perform the broken - wing display. This lack of evidence for non - shorebirds performing the display actually supports the students' claim rather than weakening it. Option A shows that unlike the common sandpiper (a shorebird), the South American snipe is not known to perform the broken - wing display, which doesn't weaken the claim. Option B states that neither the West Peruvian dove nor the South American snipe is known to perform the broken - wing display, also not weakening the claim. Option C says the common sandpiper (a shorebird) performs the display and the Peruvian dove (not a shorebird) doesn't, which doesn't weaken the claim. Option D shows that both the yellow - billed cuckoo (not a shorebird) and the sandhill crane (not a shorebird) are known to perform the broken - wing display, thus weakening the students' claim that the phenomenon is exclusive to shorebirds.

Answer:

D. Both the yellow - billed cuckoo and the sandhill crane are known to perform broken - wing display.