Jackdaws learn from each other about "dangerous" humans

New research shows that jackdaws can learn from each other to identify "dangerous" humans.

Birds are known to recognize individuals and react differently to those they consider a threat.

In the new study of the University of Exeter, an unknown person of the jackdaws approached their nest and the scientists recorded the recording of a call from warning or "contact call" (not suggesting any threat).

The next time the jackdaws saw this person, the birds that had heard the alert call reacted defensively by returning more quickly to their nests.

"One of the big challenges for many animals is how to live alongside humans," said lead author Victoria Lee, Ph.D. researcher at the Center for Cancer Therapy. Ecology and conservation of Penryn campus of Exeter in Cornwall.

"People can offer some benefits, such as food in bird feeders, but in some cases, humans are also a threat.

"Being able to distinguish between dangerous and harmless people will probably be beneficial, and in this case, we see jackdaws can learn to identify dangerous people without having themselves experienced a bad experience."

The study was conducted at three Cornwall sites, focusing on 34 jackdaw boxes.

Jackdaws that were warned when a new human being returned to their nest boxes more than twice as fast (53%) on average by seeing him again, while birds that heard contact calls took longer to return to their nest (63% on average).

Although the jackdaws returned to their nest more quickly after seeing a human being associated with a warning call, the calls did not appear to have any influence on the time required by the birds to enter their nest box. on the time spent inside.