Inter-special language and cooperation - question (1 Viewer)

Hi you guys, I'm new here with my first post. i couldnt find the say hello thread Im afraid and I know almost nothing about birds, but Ive noticed some great bird behaviour in my street: there seem to be a group of birds which follow a cat around - a magpie and a thrush appear to be the group leaders and have 100% involvement while sparrows and willowtits look on and really do seem to be joing the conversation. The magpie and thrush have followed the cat absolutely all day without fail and when he walks they criss-cros his path. When the cat stops the magpie finds the closest perch -a roof or ledge over a door and "laughs" at the cat. When the cat hides under a van or a car the thrush flies onto the road and gives away his whereabouts and the magpie comes and stands guard - they havent let him out of their sight all day - and there really seems to be a lot of bird gossip going on - and it really seems as if the different bird species recognise eacchothers "calls". Its all going on I can tell you. The thrush came within millimetres of being lunch today much to the delight of the children following the little group around.

So, whats the news on inter-special communication?


Chickybabe.

:bounce:

Hi CB,

Welcome to BF.

Most birds recognise alarm calls from a variety of species - and also can tell the difference between an aerial threat and a ground threat. (eg. a cat)
So they will react to the cat when its attention is drawn to by others.
Thrushes will react to Magpies as a threat in themselves - so the situation could well be confused with it and the cat both present.

Most bird alarm calls sound like 'alarm' to us too, so it's not surprising that one species of bird recognises alarm calls of other species. Birders often use a technique called 'pishing' which involves making a 'pish' sound that's a bit like many alarm calls. This is used to attract birds of various species closer to the birder. If they're responding to this they're perhaps doing something like what your birds are doing with the cat i.e. they're looking to see what the fuss is all about and are then joining in with the mobbing.

halftwo said:

Hi CB,

Welcome to BF.

Most birds recognise alarm calls from a variety of species - and also can tell the difference between an aerial threat and a ground threat. (eg. a cat)
So they will react to the cat when its attention is drawn to by others.
Thrushes will react to Magpies as a threat in themselves - so the situation could well be confused with it and the cat both present.

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Thanks for your answers you guys - I know how unlikely it seems but the magpie and thrush DEFINITELY appeared to be acting TOGETHER!!!!!!! The others yes were joing in the gossip and having a good old sticky beak - I'm having a nightmare manoevering around this website and it took me goodness only knows how long to find this thread again - so if I don't find you again you'll know I'm just lost in space.

Do you guys know much about the mechanics behind swarm formation - I have a little tribe of willowtits in my backyard and they act very much like mono-fish in that they fly off one by one and then when the balance is tipped they all suddenly race towards their new destination together and back into one bunch - and then they go back one by one the other way and then all make a mad dash to be together again - theyre very funny - and you won't belive this but if I lie in bed and do my aa-aa-aa aa-aa-aa aa-aa-aa princess impression (which is more pirate than princess if truth be told - Honestly - the little birds(I dont know which ones) well, they copy me - and then they all fly and sit on the eave over my bedroom!! Well, it makes me laugh.

o

chickybabe said:

I'm having a nightmare manoevering around this website and it took me goodness only knows how long to find this thread again - so if I don't find you again you'll know I'm just lost in space.

o

Click to expand...

Hi chickybabe and welcome on behalf of the Staff and Moderators.

An interesting question you have asked... I'll leave the more knowledgeable ones to answer it.

As for your problem of finding your posts, the quickest and easiest way is to use the View menu (in the green bar below Private Messages). If you click on the arrow, the 3rd option is "My Posts". Click on that and all your latest posts will appear.

D

delia todd said:

Hi chickybabe and welcome on behalf of the Staff and Moderators.

An interesting question you have asked... I'll leave the more knowledgeable ones to answer it.

As for your problem of finding your posts, the quickest and easiest way is to use the View menu (in the green bar below Private Messages). If you click on the arrow, the 3rd option is "My Posts". Click on that and all your latest posts will appear.

D

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Thanks Delia :t: its such a huge website with so many forums and i clicked on "mark all posts/forums read" thinking it meant it would mark the ones i had read ..... <ahem> but Im starting to get the hang of it now. I'm going to try to film this magpie/thrush/ :cat: phenomenon and see if I can hook up a link for you all to see - and maybe even some nice photos. :king:



Thanks again for your welcoms and your help. :t: