El agua no es para todos: la jerarquía entre los mirlos
Sep 17, 2026·1 min read·Graded Spanish · word-by-word audio
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Encontrar agua no significa poder beberla. Un estudio de la Universidad de Cádiz ha comprobado que, entre los mirlos capiblancos, los ejemplares dominantes visitaban más los puntos de agua y bebían más que los subordinados. Los resultados se publicaron en la revista Integrative Zoology.
Los dominantes bebían más veces y podían consumir al día cerca del 30 % de su peso. En cambio, los subordinados reducían un 75 % el agua que bebían cuando coincidían con ejemplares dominantes. Los investigadores descartaron que estas diferencias se debieran al sexo, la edad o el tamaño.
El entorno también influía: la sombra, el refugio o el alimento hacían que ciertos puntos fueran más visitados. Esto es importante porque el aumento de la aridez reduce la disponibilidad de agua en este ecosistema de alta montaña. Observar solo el comportamiento general de una especie puede ocultar diferencias entre individuos.
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Watch out, English speaker
Spanish passive voice (ser + past participle) is far less common in everyday speech than English passive. English speakers often overuse it in Spanish, but it's mainly reserved for formal, journalistic, or scientific contexts. Also, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject, unlike English where it never changes. For example, 'Tres puntos de agua fueron vigilados' (Three water points were monitored) – 'vigilados' is masculine plural to match 'puntos'.
Spanish 'hacer que' + subjunctive expresses causation and always triggers the subjunctive, because it implies influence or result rather than a stated fact. English speakers might instinctively use the indicative after 'hacer que' because English 'make that' doesn't require a special mood. For instance, 'La sombra hacía que ciertos puntos fueran más visitados' – 'fueran' is imperfect subjunctive, not 'eran'. Remember: if 'hacer que' means 'to cause that', the next verb must be subjunctive.
Spanish 'descartar' often translates as 'to rule out' or 'to dismiss', but English speakers might confuse it with 'descartar' meaning 'to discard' in a physical sense. In research contexts, it means rejecting a hypothesis. Also, watch out for false friends: 'dispersar' means 'to scatter' or 'disperse', not 'to dispel' (which is 'disipar').
Key vocabulary
jerarquíaf.
hierarchy, ranking system
“La jerarquía del grupo afecta al acceso al agua.”— The group's hierarchy affects access to water.
Pattern jerarquía social social hierarchy
Compare orden m. order
Plural jerarquías
💡 From Greek hieros (sacred) + arkhe (rule), originally referring to church hierarchy.
dominanteadj.
dominant, controlling
“Los mirlos dominantes beben más agua.”— Dominant blackbirds drink more water.
Pattern ejemplar dominante dominant individual
Compare predominante predominant
Plural dominantes
💡 From the verb dominar (to dominate), the suffix -ante indicates the agent.
subordinadoadj./m.
subordinate; underling
“Los subordinados reducen el agua que beben.”— Subordinates reduce the water they drink.
💡 sub- (under) + orden (order), meaning 'under the order'.
comprobarv.
to confirm, verify
“El estudio comprobó que los dominantes beben más.”— The study confirmed that dominants drink more.
Pattern comprobar que to confirm that...
Compare verificar to verify
Present perfect he comprobado; past comprobé
💡 com- (completely) + probar (to prove), proving together means 'to confirm'.
aridezf.
aridity, dryness
“La aridez reduce la disponibilidad de agua.”— Aridity reduces water availability.
Pattern aumento de la aridez increase in aridity
Compare sequedad f. dryness
No plural commonly used
💡 From the adjective árido (arid), the suffix -ez forms a noun.
dispersarv.
to scatter, disperse
“Los mirlos ayudan a dispersar las semillas.”— Blackbirds help disperse seeds.
Pattern dispersar semillas to disperse seeds
Compare esparcir to scatter
Past dispersaron; noun dispersión
💡 dis- (apart) + persar (to scatter), to put things apart.
endémicoadj.
endemic, native
“El cedro canario es una especie endémica.”— The Canary cedar is an endemic species.
Pattern especie endémica endemic species
Compare autóctono native
Feminine endémica; plural endémicos
💡 From Greek endemos (native), referring to something found only in a certain region.
disponibilidadf.
availability, accessibility
“La disponibilidad de agua disminuye cada año.”— Water availability decreases every year.
Pattern disponibilidad de agua water availability
Compare accesibilidad f. accessibility
No plural commonly used
💡 From disponible (available), the suffix -idad forms an abstract noun.
subordinadoadj.
subordinate
“Los subordinados beben menos cuando hay dominantes.”— Subordinates drink less when dominants are present.
Pattern posición subordinada subordinate position
Compare secundario secondary
Plural subordinados
💡 Cognate with subordinar (to subordinate), note the contrast with dominante for memorization.
descartav.
rules out (from descartar)
“Los investigadores descartaron esa idea.”— The researchers ruled out that idea.
Pattern descartar una posibilidad to rule out a possibility
Compare excluir to exclude
Infinitive descartar; past descartaron
💡 des- (negation) + cartar (from carta, card), to throw away a card means to rule out.
Grammar spotlight
Passive voice: ser + past participle
A2
The Spanish passive voice is formed with ser + past participle, and the participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. It is often used for objective statements of research or facts.
“Tres puntos de agua fueron vigilados con cámaras automáticas.”— Three water points were monitored with automatic cameras.
⚠️ Forgetting that the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number, e.g. *fueron vigilado* should be *fueron vigilados*.
hacer que + subjunctive
B1
hacer que means 'to make (something happen)' and is followed by the subjunctive, because it expresses a caused result rather than a fact.
“La sombra, el refugio o el alimento hacían que ciertos puntos fueran más visitados.”— Shade, shelter, or food made certain water points more visited.
⚠️ Using the indicative, e.g. *hacían que eran* should be *hacían que fueran*.
Sentence patterns to steal
Encontrar agua no significa poder beberla.
Finding water does not mean being able to drink it.
Encontrar + noun + no significa + infinitiveYou can replace encontrar agua and beberla, e.g. Encontrar comida no significa poder comerla.
Los dominantes bebían más veces y podían consumir al día cerca del 30 % de su peso.
Dominant individuals drank more often and could consume nearly 30% of their body weight per day.
Los + adj. + past tense verb + más + y podían + infinitive + cerca del + number %You can replace dominantes and the percentage, e.g. Los mayores comían más y podían consumir cerca del 40 %.
Observar solo el comportamiento general de una especie puede ocultar diferencias entre individuos.
Observing only the general behavior of a species can hide differences between individuals.
Observar solo + noun + puede ocultar + nounYou can replace comportamiento general and diferencias, e.g. Observar solo los datos puede ocultar problemas.
Teide National Park and the Canary Islands Cedar
Teide National Park is located in the Canary Islands, Spain, and is famous for Mount Teide. The Canary Islands cedar found in the park is an endemic species listed as vulnerable. The ring ouzel migrates there from northern Europe in winter and helps disperse cedar seeds, which is crucial for forest regeneration.
Source: Wikipedia: Teide National Park / Juniperus cedrus