How Birds Learn to Identify Threats

Transcript: 

This is BirdNote.

When an eagle or hawk flies overhead, a flock of crows may fly up to meet it, dive-bombing the predator and giving it a noisy escort out of town. An Eastern Kingbird will actually clamp its feet onto the back of a much larger hawk to send it packing. Birds of different species will even team up to mob the big predators. But how do they know which big birds to chase off and which to ignore? And how do they know to ignore birds like vultures that, to us, look so much like hawks or eagles overhead?

Scientists think birds owe this fine-tuned ability to identify threats to both instinct and learning. Experiments suggest that young birds may be genetically wired to avoid risks. But they need to watch experienced birds in action to refine their know-how. By watching their parents in the act of mobbing, youngsters gain critical knowledge that may save their own skin.

So when a mobbing flock of crows teams up on an eagle, they’re not only drawing attention and chasing off a potential danger. They may also be giving young crows an important lesson — in bird identification.
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.

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