Can birds recognise individual people... (2 Viewers)

[yellow_belly]

Hi - I was just interested if anyone knows if birds can recognise individual people. Every morning I take my dog for a walk and put down seed where there are quite a few house sparrows and again in another place where there is a robin. Sometimes about 15 house sparrows fly across the road as I approach and wait near the site where I feed them, also the robin comes within a foot of me before I put down any food.

A friend of mine who also walks his dog at about the same time doesnt get this response if he is alone with his dog but does when I am with him, so the birds are not just recognising 'a person with a dog' and they seem to be able to pick me out even when there are two of us and two dogs. So it appears to me that the birds are recognising me and/or my dog. I suppose I should do the walk one day without the dog and see if they still recognise me. It would be funny if they didnt as it would then appear they reconise my dog and not me

Terry

 

[Adey Baker]

I've noticed the same but the look I'd get from the dog if I didn't take her means I've not been able to prove your last point!

 

[Bluetail]

I've no idea what sort of things birds' brains can retain or for how long. It dare say it varies with species. I expect someone has done some work on it somewhere. On the face of it, it would appear that they're recognising something. Whether it's you as a person, or your clothing, or the colour of your dog, or something else, who knows?

Jason

 

[Darren Oakley-Martin]

I know they are renowned for their intelligence, but my grandparents used to feed a couple of old crows when they took their dog for a walk, and they swear blind that the crows recognised their car as they pulled into the carpark.

Oh, crows renowned for their intelligence, not grandparents!

Yours, grammatically challenged!

 

[yellow_belly]

Adey, good point about the dog not liking you going for a walk on your own but I have just done it, see below...

On the face of it, it would appear that they're recognising something. Whether it's you as a person, or your clothing, or the colour of your dog, or something else, who knows?Jason

The dog was asleep so I just ventured out to where the house sparrows are and feed them again, although not the normal greeting (different time and they have already had a 'belly' full from me recently) I am sure that there was enough response to say that they recognised me, now if it wouldnt frighten the neighbours too much I could try going down there with NO clothes on and see what happens...

Terry

 

[helenol]

last year, a robin that lived across the road was given mealworms to feed its young (by me). He/she did the road crossing every 5 minutes of so during the day. When I would return from shopping or whatever, I would see the robin perched on the telephone wire across the road. As soon as I came within 10-20 feet or so of my house the robin would fly across the road, and wait on my fence until I had gone in the house to fetch the mealworms.

 

[Tammie]

I have gray jays here that most definitely recognize me and my husband. I step out at all different times of day with snacks for them and they come 'running'. As soon as one spots me, I hear a quiet call go out and all of sudden, there's 8 ot 10 of them around.
One day I did this with a friend of mine standing beside me... and the birds wouldn't come. As soon as she was away from me and beside her vehicle, they came to the food tho'. It was a neat little test.

 

[yellow_belly]

Helen/Tammie - the birds certainly know they are onto a good thing in both of your cases

Terry

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I can remember many years ago now (well early 90s) there was a Japanese lady who used to do research on the Yare Valley Bean Geese (maybe she still does). I know she used to wear the same clothes when she went out to watch them and over the whole time she had been watching them had got been able to move gradually closer to them. She was able to get much nearer them than anyone else because they recognised her and had learnt to 'trust' her I suppose.

Birds clearly have quite good memories (sometimes exceptional) and are very observant - they have to be. It's fairly certain that many would recognise individual humans if they see them regularly.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

By the way Admin - any chance of moving this thread out of RF, as it seems to be of quite general interest (and not very rude or sordid either)?

 

[Grousemore]

By the way Admin - any chance of moving this thread out of RF, as it seems to be of quite general interest (and not very rude or sordid either)?

Good idea,Andrew,I'll do it now.

 

[Michael Frankis]

Always said by the WWT that when they feed the swans at Slimbridge, they would only tolerate the regular man - on his holidays & days off when someone else took the barrow out, they wouldn't come anywhere near so close

Michael

 

[pauco]

we have 2 Blackbirds that seem to know a good thing when they see it! one will come within 6inchs, the other sits on our front step, and wait for their sultanas, this every morning.
bert.

 

[RationalParrot]

Interesting topic.

I would guess this ability varies among birds. However, I'm *sure* some larger North American birds can recognize individual people.

Someone I know rescued a pigeon at a young age. The bird lives in the house now, as a pet, but has liberty. The bird will fly out of the porch and flap excitedly when the guy's *car* comes down the street. The bird can recognize the noise of the guy's car engine. Then, of course, the bird is extremely excited and affectionate when he gets out of the cab, perching on his shoulder.

Crows, Ravens, and Jays have been kept as pets, and there's no question they recognize individual people. These birds can integrate themselves into a household in at least as sophisticated a way as dogs. They have favorites within the family, family friends they like and dislike, etc.

Of course, many people have experience with pet parrots. As anyone with experience with these birds can tell you, even parakeets will bond with individual family members. Larger birds plainly recognize individual people, and have great memories. Most people with medium-sized or larger birds will compare them to human children in their psychologies.

Wild birds may not pay close enough attention to individual people to show clear evidence of recognizing them, but I'm sure many of them are capable of it.

Whether birds as small as sparrows and chickadees can recognize people as individuals I'm not sure of, but I suspect they can. Someone I heard of would feed these birds by hand, but he would wear the same red shirt each time. Whether the birds understood he was a distinct individual, or whether it was the red shirt, I can't say. My guess is they knew him as an individual, and identified him by the shirt, but I obviously can't say for sure.

 

[Doug Greenberg]

Definitely, birds come to recognize individual people. I have known people who can hand-feed chickadees, but when I would go out to where the birds were they would not come down to me :-((.

 

[helenol]

one will come within 6inchs, the other sits on our front step, and wait for their sultanas, this every morning. bert.

Bert, what do you do if you are on holiday etc?

 

[seb_seb]

I dont know if somebody has already mentioned this> but i think keepers of captive birds often wear a particular colour of clothes (that the birds recognize), especially in the breeding season, so that the birds do not become to alarmed and stressed.

 

[Victoria9]

Yes, Birds Recognize People -- but How?

I would say "definitely." My question is HOW do they do it?
I work in a high-rise in downtown L.A. at 7th and Figueroa. I've been feeding the sparrows for about a year now, maybe longer. Their favorite is croissant (we get donuts on Fridays in the office). It's gotten so that when I exit the building onto the plaza (a big wide open space), they fly to me and sit there on the pavement in front of me, sometimes only a few feet away. It doesn't matter whether there are people exiting and entering the building or passing by. I've never seen them fly up to anyone else. They obviously recognize me as the woman who carries bread in her purse. My question is: How do they recognize me? There are hundreds of people coming and going out of this building.

P.S. The other morning I arrived in the parking lot a couple blocks away from the building. I heard a sparrow, turned and saw him on the electrical wire about 20 yards away -- and he flew right down to me. I threw him some crumbs. How did he know??? Is it telepathy of some kind?

 

[christineredgate]

I have 2 visiting Blackbirds who ,the minute I set foot through the door they come within several inches of me,demanding their sultanas.When Barry goes out they do not move.

 

[Katy Penland]

Hi, Victoria! I see this is your first post, so a warm welcome to you from all of us on staff here at BirdForum!

7th and Figueroa, huh? Give my regards to The Pantry a couple blocks up. Love their sourdough bread.