can birds understand other bird species

This weeks question comes to us from Virginia Baldwin of West Vancouver, British Columbia. She asks:

Listening to the chorus every morning from a wonderful variety of birds I have around my home, I was wondering if one bird type can understand the songs of another?

Brendan Boyd, a PhD student in the Department of Biology, and the Stutchbury Lab for Behavioural and Conservation Ecology at York University explains there are two types of bird vocalizations, a song and a call. A song is usually longer and more complex than a call. It is used for attracting a mate or for defending territory.

A female listens to this song to determine the quality of her prospective mate. Other males also listen to the song to assess quality, but in this case to see if it is worth challenging the male for his territory. While this is important information for the species doing the singing, it is not understood by other species; there is no competition for mates or territory.

While this is the case for songs, bird calls are another matter. Most species have a variety of calls they use to communicate with each other, but other species can take information from them. Specifically, these types of calls are alarm calls warning of predators or other dangers.

These types of calls elicit a strong response from unrelated species. In a study involving the chick-a-dee-dee alarm call of the black capped chickadee, a total of 24 unrelated species showed up to investigate the reason for the alarm.

Chick-A-Dee-Dee

One good example of this phenomenon can be found in the relationship between black-capped chickadees and red-breasted nuthatches. The two songbirds have much in common. Both species are indigenous to North America and attain similar sizes. Theyre also wary of raptors. When chickadees see a goshawk, owl, or some other winged predator, the birds issue an alarm call. Like the TSA, their warnings recognize different threat levels. High-pitched “seat” calls are used to tip off other birds about a raptor thats flying far overhead. The eponymous “chick-a-dee-dee” cry rings out whenever a perched raptor is seen nearby. Extra “dees” are added if a killer looks especially dangerous.

Research has shown that red-breasted nuthatches understand the chickadees warnings. And with close listening, they can decode the exact degree of danger thats being advertised in these alarm calls. Clearly, eavesdropping has its benefits.

Alarm calls can even trigger a response from non-avian listeners. The tufted titmouse, for example, is a songbird whose anti-raptor warning cries send squirrels and chipmunks running. Amazingly, these mammals are known to spread the distress signal by imitating it with their own voices. Sparrows, cardinals, and jays will also mimic the titmouses signature alarm call. Thus, an interspecies chorus heralds the arrival of an oncoming threat.

So, do birds learn to recognize the alarm calls of other species through experience or do they just have an innate understanding of them?

According to Magrath, certain birds actively pick up on the cries, at least occasionally. On the Canberra campus of Australian National University, magnificent fairy wrens are frequently sighted. As it happens, a grey bird known as the noisy miner makes frequent visits to the school grounds.

According to Magrath, theres a botanical garden across the street where the wrens like to hang out, but the miners avoid it. In one of his studies, he was able to demonstrate that superb-fairy wrens who lived on-campus fled when a recording of miner alarm calls was played. However, the wrens at the botanical garden where, again, no miners are present did not react to the same recording. This strongly suggests that inter-species call recognition isnt innate: it has to be learned.

“Weve subsequently even trained fairy-wrens to recognize novel sounds as alarm calls by pairing them with the presentation of gliding hawk models, which unequivocally shows learning,” Magrath notes.

I was wondering if one type of bird can understand the songs of another, since I hear the chorus of a wonderful variety of birds around my house every morning?

This song is listened to by a woman to assess a potential partner’s qualities. Other men evaluate the song’s quality as well, but in this instance, to determine whether it’s worthwhile to challenge the male for his territory. The species that is singing needs to know this information, but other species do not understand it, so there is no competition for mates or territory.

Unrelated species react strongly to these kinds of calls. A total of 24 unrelated species appeared in a study involving the chick-a-dee-dee alarm call of the black-capped chickadee in order to investigate the cause of the alarm.

Virginia Baldwin of West Vancouver, British Columbia, asks us this week’s query. She asks:

FAQ

Do birds understand other species?

Birds may mentally picture what other species are talking about. Summary: New research show that the coal tit (Periparus ater) can eavesdrop and react to the predatory warning calls of the Japanese tit (Parus minor) and evokes a visual image of the predator in their mind.

Do birds of different species interact?

Cooperation among different species of birds is common. Some birds build their nests near those of larger, more aggressive species to deter predators, and flocks of mixed species forage for food and defend territories together in alliances that can last for years.

Do birds like other bird species?

While some bird species ignore each other in perfect harmony, others work together. For example, as the woodpecker removes bark from a tree in search of grubs, a chickadee may fly by and grab the insects that were stirred up in the bark-removal process.

Do birds recognize each other?

The short answer is: It depends. Birds that live in social flocks, particularly the Blue Jays and American Crows, recognize their parents, siblings, and offspring their entire lives. They join family flocks, foraging for food together and some even stick around to help their parents raise the next clutch of young.