A Goldcrests call for help! (1 Viewer)

Most unusual event this afternoon on my local patch. A lone Goldcrest was calling continuously for several minutes whilst it was feeding in a small wood and only stopped when a pair of Blue Tits and Great Tits arrived to find out what the commotion was about.

I know tits, crests, Chiffchaffs and Treecreepers will flock together to work their way along hedgerows in the winter, but was this Goldcrest calling in other birds to, firstly tell others their was food in this spot and secondly that it knows there is safety in numbers and was somehow trying to get other birds to join it.

All five birds having joined each other then continued to feed silently in the trees around me!

Has anyone else ever come across this?

This behaviour is the basis of the practice of "pushing"

Contact calls are meant to keep in touch, obviously. If no reply comes then the bird knows it's alone, not what it wants to be.

I found this little gem in Wikipedia "Parrots kept as pets demonstrate contact calls with their human owners. Parrots make their call to establish that the human is within earshot, and continue to make the call (sometimes growing louder into a scream) until acknowledged. The screaming develops in pet parrots, as well as wild flock, when the animal feels like its needs are not being met because the contact call is not being understood."

I've certainly come across this behaviour in lone Rooks: calling frantically until contact is re-established.

The only thing that surprises me with the original scene is that, once the tits had arrived, they all then fed in silence. I would have expected a background murmur of contact calls to continue. N.b., of course, species that co-associate in a winter "tit flock" all have similar contact calls, for this reason.

And no doubt Mike C meant "pishing"

Yes quite Interesting to hear thou I can differentiate the call notes of goldcrest and treecreeper I still sometimes Struggle to separate the two.

Yep, sounds good.

davercox said:

The only thing that surprises me with the original scene is that, once the tits had arrived, they all then fed in silence. I would have expected a background murmur of contact calls to continue. N.b., of course, species that co-associate in a winter "tit flock" all have similar contact calls, for this reason.

Click to expand...

Encountered silent mixed flocks a few times in the last few weeks. Perhaps because they weren't moving as they had found a good food source in that immediate area they knew they didn't have to maintain the calls?

Thanks Guys

Many thanks for the feedback on the Goldcrest calling in reinforcements. It was strange that they fell silent. I've been bird watching for nearly 50 years now and I must admit I've not come across this before, but it's more likely its something I've overlooked. I shall definitely listen out for this behaviour again as I found it quite fascinating. Once again thank you all for your feedback.

Many thanks Dave for your feedback.

Thank you Mike