Sound From Bird Wings Act As a Predator Alarm

An anonymous reader writes "Biologists have discovered that a species of Australian pigeon has a secret way of alerting fellow birds to predators — a 'whistle' emitted by flapping wings when the bird takes off in alarm. The crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) is well known for the abrupt metallic-sounding whistle that it makes on takeoff. Many birds have the ability to make vocal cries to alert other members of their flock, but this is the first study to show that flight noise can also serve as an alarm call."

I know the one...

[MrKaos]

the abrupt metallic-sounding whistle that it makes on takeoff...

That scares the absolute crap out of you if you haven't noticed them while you are going out to hang the washing on the line. Just another one of the craaazzzyy animals that occupy my back yard.

Possums that fall out of trees when *you're* drunk, and then look all embarrassed about it - waaay too funny - I mean they live in trees.

Myopic Kookaburras that *miss the ground* when hunting for food and slide along in a cloud of dust and feathers, get up and look at you like 'oh it's just a human'.

The obstreperous lorikeets that race each other (they get to about 60kph) and decide both sides of your head is part of the obstacle course they are flying, squawking loudly as they pass by, also scaring the crap out of you.

Or the owls that sit on the washing line at night and wait until you are about a foot away from them before they fly off and *also* scare the crap out of you.

Oh yeah, Australian animals are all mental.

Re:Shame they're so paranoid

[4D6963]

Actually, that reminds me, I grew up in France and I never could approach a bird within 20 feet without them flying away, until I visited England and the same kind of birds would approach as close as two feet from you as long as you didn't move too much. I never thought much of it until someone else made the same observation after visiting England.

Now I don't see how the nationality of birds could possibly influence their behaviour towards people, but has anyone else even noticed this?

Re:Makes perfect sense.

[mcpkaaos]

I'm about to turn 36, I can hear the tone clearly, and hell yes it is annoying. Now I know what makes dogs tilt their heads all funny. It's surprising that I should be able to hear it at all after spending most of my youth playing very loud music and DJing (wearing headphones plugged into various mixers, usually with the level maxed to hear them over the monitors). I was almost certain I had blown my hearing, or at least caused some damage.

But, I guess my father was right after all. It's not that my hearing is bad, it's just selective.

Re:Shame they're so paranoid

[Ninja Pigeon]

Hmmm. Interesting question. If you are talking urban birds, are English more likely to feed/drop crumbs then the French? Or perhaps it is the opposite, maybe there is less food around in England so the birds must act bolder in order to scavenge enough resources.

Re:Really?

[Supurcell]

Remember when they found those skinless bodies in the tree in that movie and one of the guys said it was probably guerrillas who did it? Well, as a kid, I thought he was talking about gorillas. That is one scary-ass thing to learn about the gentle great apes in school, and then come home to see some fleshy corpses on TV that were killed by those same monsters.

Then, last week, Planet Earth was on TV, and there was a gang of chimpanzees making war on a rival gang, then cannibalizing the bodies of their enemies! I am never going into the jungle.