NEETZoologyOrganisms and Populations
How do cattle egrets benefit from their association with grazing cattle?
Options
- ABy getting a place to build their nests
- BBy gaining protection from predators
- CBy having easier access to insects stirred up by the cattle
- DBy feeding directly on the cattle
Correct answer
C. By having easier access to insects stirred up by the cattle
Step-by-step solution
This is the interaction in which one species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefited. An orchid growing as an epiphyte on a mango branch, and barnacles growing on the back of a whale benefit while neither the mango tree nor the whale derives any apparent benefit. The cattle egret and grazing cattle in close association, a sight you are most likely to catch if you live in farmed rural areas, is a classic example of commensalism. The egrets always forage close to where the cattle are grazing because th