Can birds tell if a person looking at them is thinking of doing something bad? A new study says that it is possible for birds, particularly Jackdaws, to warn each other of a sighting of a possibly "bad" human.
The birds are known to be the mythical creatures of the sky. Their wings spread as they make their way through the clouds. However, birds in general are also known for their ability to recognize individuals as they are. They have developed the habit of responding to each one differently, especially to those they consider as a threat.
A team of researchers from the University of Exeter explored how Jackdaws would react if a stranger approached their nest or look at them for a long time. A person was tasked to walk near the nest of the jackdaws while the team recorded the sound that the birds make. They were hoping to record some kind of warning call or any other form of contact call among birds.
The same person approached another area where other Jackdaws nests were to be seen. This time, the birds who have heard the warning call before had reacted more defensively. In fact, they were too quick to fly to their nests. The others made the same sound they heard before as if warning the others of the stranger.
"Living alongside all the humans has become one of the major challenges for many animals, especially those that live in the wild," said Victoria Lee, a researcher for the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall and lead author of the study.
"People may be able to make the lives of these animals easy by providing them with food and water, in this case, birdfeeders, but in some cases, humans also pose a threat to the security of animals."
Animals can make a distinction between good people and those who have a bad intention. Being able to tell them apart should prove to be beneficial. In this case in particular, Jackdaws were able to identify a bad person who posed a threat to their safety. Another thing is that they send signal warnings to the other birds in the community.
The study was carried out in three sites outside of Cornwell campus. The researchers focused on 34 Jackdaw nests. The researchers observed that the Jackdaws that were first recorded to send a warning call regarding the presence of the stranger returned to their nests more than twice at 53% on the average when they saw that human again. This can be compared to the birds that heard contact calls took longer to return to their nest on the average 63%. Though Jackdaws were quicker to return to their nests at the sight of the human they have been warned about, the calls did not seem to influence how long it took for the birds to return to their nests.
