In an island nature preserve, Common Eider nests are found in roughly equal numbers in highly concealing woody vegeta...

Victoria on January 30, 2020

Hello and thanks for your question!

I'm unsure which wrong answer choice you are referring to, so I'll run through the entire question for you.

The passage tells us that, in this island nature preserve, common eider nests can be found in woody vegetation, wooden boxes, and open grasslands in roughly equal numbers.

Some common eiders lay their eggs in other common eiders' nests. The passage suggests that this is to avoid predation.

However, those common eiders that lay their eggs in other common eiders' nests typically choose to do so in wooden boxes and not in woody vegetation as we might expect them to.

This is a paradox question. We are looking for the answer choice which helps to explain why, if it is likely that common eiders are laying their eggs in other common eiders' nests to avoid predation, they would choose to do so in wooden boxes and not in the highly concealing woody vegetation. In short, we are .looking for the answer choice which best helps to explain this behaviour.

Answer choice (A) is incorrect because it does not provide us with an explanation for these common eiders' past choice to lay their eggs in other common eiders' nests.

Answer choice (C) is tempting, but it doesn't explain why those common eiders that are successful in laying their eggs in other common eiders' nests choose to lay their eggs in those located in wooden boxes. This would be more helpful if those who were able to deter intruding common eiders were mostly those who nested in the woody vegetation.

Answer choice (D) is incorrect because it does not provide us with an explanation for why these common eiders choose box nests. We know that there is clearly some natural habitat leftover because some common eiders nest in woody vegetation and open grasslands in roughly equal numbers.

Answer choice (E) is incorrect because it does not provide us with an explanation for their nesting behaviour. If, as the passage suggests, the common eiders lay eggs in others' nests to avoid predation, the fact that predators are common on the island does nothing to explain why the eiders would choose to nest in wooden boxes as compared to woody vegetation which effectively conceals nests.

Answer choice (B) is correct because it explains why they might choose to lay their eggs in established nests in wooden boxes as opposed to concealing woody vegetation. If established nests in woody vegetation are difficult for common eiders to detect, then it makes sense that they would choose to interlude upon nests that are easier to find. They cannot intrude on nests that they cannot locate.

Hope this is helpful! Please let us know if you have any further questions.

shongedzai on January 31, 2020

thank you!