In the September 9, 2009 article in Discovery News, Michael Reilly talks about a study done by Mae Hingee and Robert Magrath to prove this quality in pigeons. In there study they showed that these pigeons emit a whistling sound from their wings when flying, but when they are flying out of fear the beat more rapidly and harder. They recorded the sounds of the bird flying happily around and than they added in a decoy. The decoy was a hawk and when the hawk was added into the picture the pigeon started flapping its wings more rapidly. When they played the sound back it showed that other pigeons weren't responding to the pigeon happily flying around, but when it started to flap at a quicker and harder pace the rest of the birds fleed. They concluded that the sound and tempo of the whistle was how the other birds knew when the signaler was takig off in fear or not.
This is a very important signal that the pigeons use to communicate with each other. It helps them all know when they are in danger. Also it is distinctive enough that they always recognize it so they can all stay safe. After reading this article I now know why pigeons all fly off together at the same time.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/09/02/pigeon-wing-alarm.html
Posted by "Samantha Babcock" (1)
This was an interesting article. It is amazing to me that these animals have learned to pick up on such cues because it shows that they may exhibit complex thinking. It would be especially interesting if how they learn this cue could be determined; whether they know because they have wings and hear what they sound like, or because it is a programmed signal they receive in such a way due to hereditary.
ReplyDeleteWas there any other information on the behaviors observed before this type of flight? Maybe other possible warning signals through body postures/ calls? If not, this is also very important to these birds because it saves energy. Rather than using energy to make a call signal, or waste time doing so, they are able to flee and send a signal while doing it.
This was a Great find!
Posted by Jackie Connolly
This article seems like a very interesting one, especially since it deals with communication on the sense of signaling rather than vocal communication.
ReplyDeleteWould you think though that this signal is a response to a behavior that was not conscious and was not deliberate on the penguin's part? It seems to be saying that if I were scared of a bear, lets say, I would try to run away from it as fast as I can. I wouldn't yell, but everyone around me my hear the sound of my feet hitting the ground and respond due to that, rather than my conscious act to tell everyone to run away! I'm not doubting that the sound of the wings is a signal, but it seems to be less of one in my mind because it was not done for a receiver in mind. It was done because the penguin wanted to get out of there!
Posted by Christine Rega