Some songbirds may find the best place to live by hearing the songs of other birds who already have children. This behavioral and communicative trait is so powerful that even though researchers use bands to lure them to their nesting site, they even move away from it.
This shows that songbirds are much more complex to communicate than we all know. The social index can be of equal or greater importance than the natural state of a particular habitat.
The discovery was published in a trade journal, The Proceedings of the Royal Society B by scientists at Oregon State University with colleagues at Wellesley College, Queen’s University and Trent University in Ontario, Canada.
“Finding suitable habitat for breeding is a question between the life and ecology of birds,” said Matthew Betts, assistant professor at Oregon State University, forest scientist and expert in bird ecology. they have to find the right place the first time.
“The wisdom shown is that they choose a unique nesting site based on the structure of the vegetation. If a bird chooses a nesting site without shelter or food, it is unlikely to be able to breed successfully. But now we know that young birds can listen to the songs of more experienced and successful birds and use that information to decide where they will nest next year.
Scientists discovered this through experimental studies at 54 study sites with black-necked blue-necked warblers in the White Mountains of New Hampshire state. In the fall, when several birds had mates and sang their chicks – perhaps to teach them how to sing, the researchers lit tapes to record their song at other locations that were originally The habitat is very poor for birds. Other black-necked blue-necked warblers flew over, hearing the song, and decided that this was definitely a suitable place to live despite the poor environmental conditions observed. They even come back to this place to nest next spring.
Males are four times more likely to follow the song’s “directions” than their actual experience of the natural habitat. Even when the male makes the wrong choice, the female believes too much in the quality of the male and will follow her mate.
“We’ve seen a lot of birds take up residence in inappropriate habitats,” Betts said, “just because they heard a recording of our birds singing last year. We were truly amazed at the power of this communication.
The study was carried out on a single species of songbirds, but the results likely relate to at least a few other songbird species, even animals. There is still a lot we don’t know about the nature and importance of forms of communication in animals, but studies like this show that animals actually ‘talk’ to each other through gestures.
In the natural world, there is a price to pay for creating sound of any kind. This sound could alarm predators of our arrival. Therefore, “it makes perfect sense that if audio communication is threatened, it must certainly provide significant benefits.”
It is sometimes understood that birds emit different sounds and songs for certain reasons, such as securing a territory or attracting mates. A soothing song is often used around children. Research draws on the meaning of this form of communication to a higher degree, implying that what birds hear may be more important than what they actually observe or experience.
This ability is probably very useful in the event of climate change or rapid habitat changes. It is a very valuable shortcut. If birds can hear clues and make quick decisions on things as important as choosing a future nest, they will respond faster and more appropriately.The environment degrades without having to go alone for testing. .
“If a bird is flying over a large area and only needs to hear another bird’s song to find 10 suitable nesting sites,” says Betts.
“Most migratory birds live in territories and they still compete for the breeding ground every year. But there may be a place left unattended by dead birds in winter. With a little energy, the birds found a nesting place to feed their young just by listening to other birds singing their success.
