Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey Brainstuff.
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Bogelbaum, and this is another classic episode from
Speaker 1: our archives, and this one digs into communication among animals
Speaker 1: and how creatures from different species or even different kingdoms
Speaker 1: can get their messages across. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here,
Speaker 1: a good birdwatcher can identify the local species not just
Speaker 1: by sight, but also by sound. It's something the Audubon
Speaker 1: Society calls birding by ear. With practice and a good
Speaker 1: field guide, avian enthusiasts learned to recognize the trademark tweets, cheaps,
Speaker 1: and hoots that various birds omit. Mastering this skill requires
Speaker 1: a basic understanding of how and why our feathered friends communicate. Often,
Speaker 1: a given species will use its own distinctive set of sounds,
Speaker 1: like mating calls and territorial threats to get assorted points across.
Speaker 1: Take the rock pigeon. These guys court each other with
Speaker 1: gentle coups and too signal distress. They use a harsh grunt.
Speaker 1: If an individual rock pigeon is to survive and procreate,
Speaker 1: it must be able to recognize both vocalizations. But do
Speaker 1: a pigeons noises mean anything to passing crows or cardinals.
Speaker 1: Can birds understand the calls made by other species. We
Speaker 1: recently discussed this topic with Robert D. McGrath, an ornithologist
Speaker 1: and behavioral ecologist at the Australian National University. McGrath has
Speaker 1: co authored multiple studies about interspecies communication in birds. Much
Speaker 1: of US research has dealt with avian alarm calls. These
Speaker 1: are the warning cries that birds send out when a
Speaker 1: predator is cited. As McGrath tells us via email, just
Speaker 1: about every bird species we have studied locally respond to
Speaker 1: other species alarm calls, and we suspect eavesdropping on other
Speaker 1: species calls is widespread around the globe. Perhaps this is
Speaker 1: not surprising, given that almost all species are vulnerable to
Speaker 1: predators and so should use any available cues that predators
Speaker 1: are around. One good example of this phenomenon can be
Speaker 1: found in the relationship between black cat chicken eas and
Speaker 1: redbreasted nuthatches. The two songbirds have much in common. Both
Speaker 1: species are indigenous to North America and attain similar sizes.
Speaker 1: They're also wary of raptors. When chicken ees see a gosshawk,
Speaker 1: owl or some other winged predator. The birds issue an
Speaker 1: alarm call. Like the t s A, their warnings recognize
Speaker 1: different threat levels. High pitched seat calls are used to
Speaker 1: tip off other birds about a raptor that's flying far overhead.
Speaker 1: The eponymous chicken d E D cry rings out whenever
Speaker 1: a perched raptor is seen nearby. Extra d s are
Speaker 1: added if a killer looks especially dangerous. Research has shown
Speaker 1: that other birds, like red breast did nut hatches, understand
Speaker 1: the chickenese warnings, and with close listening, they can decode
Speaker 1: the exact degree of danger that's being advertised in these
Speaker 1: alarm calls. Clearly, eavesdropping has its benefits. Alarm calls can
Speaker 1: even trigger a response from non avian listeners. The tufted tipmouse,
Speaker 1: for example, is a songbird whose anti raptor warning cries
Speaker 1: send squirrels and chipmunks running amazingly. These mammals are known
Speaker 1: to spread the distress signal by imitating it with their
Speaker 1: own voices. Sparrows, cardinals, and jays will also mimic the
Speaker 1: tipmouse's signature alarm call. Thus, an interspecies chorus heralds the
Speaker 1: arrival of an oncoming threat. Okay, so do birds just
Speaker 1: have an innate understanding of other species alarm calls, or
Speaker 1: do they pick up the skill over time. McGraph says
Speaker 1: that at least in some cases, certain birds actively learn
Speaker 1: to identify the cries. Superb very wrens are a common
Speaker 1: sight on the Gralian National University campus in Canberra. As
Speaker 1: it happens, the school grounds also received plenty of visits
Speaker 1: from a gray bird known as the noisy minor. According
Speaker 1: to McGrath, there's a botanical garden across the street where
Speaker 1: the wrens like to hang out, but the miners avoid it.
Speaker 1: In one of his studies, he was able to demonstrate
Speaker 1: that superb fairy wrens who lived on campus fled when
Speaker 1: a recording of minor alarm calls was played. However, the
Speaker 1: wrens at the botanical garden, where again no miners are present,
Speaker 1: did not react to the same recording. This strongly suggests
Speaker 1: that interspecies call recognition isn't innate, it has to be learned.
Speaker 1: McGrath notes we've subsequently even trained fairy wrens to recognize
Speaker 1: novel sounds as alarm calls by pairing them with the
Speaker 1: presentation of gliding hawk models, which unequivocally shows learning alarm
Speaker 1: calls aren't the only vocalizations that can transcend species. It's
Speaker 1: common for birds to recognize other birds species sounds if
Speaker 1: there's some benefit to recognition. McGrath said. Some species defend
Speaker 1: territories against members of other species and respond to their
Speaker 1: territorial song. Others can recognize contact calls, which helps them
Speaker 1: form mixed species flocks and find food. And then there's
Speaker 1: the cuckoo and notorious brewed parasite Females lay their eggs
Speaker 1: in the nests of other birds, who are then sometimes
Speaker 1: tricked into raising the cuckoo's chicks to pull off the charade.
Speaker 1: Baby cuckoos imitate the begging cries made by infants of
Speaker 1: the host's own species, but these sorts of imitatable cries
Speaker 1: aren't made by single species alone, like chicken ee. The
Speaker 1: name Cuca bura is on Amano peak. It's derived from
Speaker 1: the world famous cackle made by these birds. Hollywood seems
Speaker 1: obsessed with their exotic laugh. Kuga bara cries can be
Speaker 1: heard in the background of such films as Raiders Have
Speaker 1: Lost Arc, The Naked Gun, and assorted Tarzan movies. Today's
Speaker 1: episode is based on the article can different bird species
Speaker 1: talk with each other? On how stuff works dot Com,
Speaker 1: written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff is production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com,
Speaker 1: and it's produced by Tyler Klang and Ramsay YMP four
Speaker 1: More podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.