Sound From Bird Wings Act As a Predator Alarm 100
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."
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Shame they're so paranoid (Score:3, Funny)
I walk near birds minding my own business, they fly off and make racket doing so.. only once or twice have I yelled "WHAT!?" at them.. but people look at me funny.
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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:Shame they're so paranoid (Score:5, Funny)
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They are only fleeing so that they may begin le resistance!
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It might have something to do with the fact that (lots of) French people will kill and eat anything that moves. Evolution at work.
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For reference, the Romans occasionally had hummingbirds on the menus at feasts. So people do (or did) eat very small birds.
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You mean Squab? [wikipedia.org]
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Who modded you offtopic?
Squab is a pigeon dish best served cold on a plate with chicken liver, fava beans, and a tall glass of chianti. ffft! ffft! ffft!
Another dish best served cold (Score:2)
Squab is a pigeon dish best served cold on a plate with chicken liver, fava beans, and a tall glass of chianti. ffft! ffft! ffft!
Is it easier to make than revenge?
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I guess have trolls that follow me. That or someone can't figure out the new mod system.
Anyways, I had Squab the first time in much the same ways you have described. I ate it before I knew what it was and thought it was delicious. It made me a little quezy after finding out what it was but I got over that quickly. I took up dove hunting since then just because of it. I still haven't quite found a recipe that tastes as good as the first time but I'm close.
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In some parts of the continent ( mostly southern Europe: Italy and Malta for sure but France too) it is common for people to shoot small birds for the sheer fun of shooting them. Anything that flies is shot and they don't care if it is edible, or rare, or a protected species. See here [rspb.org.uk] for details.
In the UK, shooting of birds is restricted to (a) Farmers shooting pest species (e.g. crows) and (b) rich people shooting specially-reared game birds (grouse, pheasant etc.) and (c) People with green wellies s
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There are paranoid pigeons in the UK too, there are also some hard bastards too.
In Glasgow, Pigeons in and around Partick station are timid, paranoid and flee at the first sight of people
a 5 minute walk away at the Botanic Gardens I've batted several pigeons out of the air for trying to nick my dinner.
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Awesome! Teach those little buggers manners.
I have to reply because I accidently modded you overrated and now I have to invalidate my mis-click.
Really? (Score:5, Funny)
I would have thought the 3 laser dots on your chest or the bodies hung upside down in trees would have been pretty good signs of a predator.
Re:Really? (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
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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.
Martin Short [imdb.com] made the same mistake when Kurt Russel told him to watch out for the guerrillas.
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Ha. This post rocks.
Funny that this has only *just* been researched... (Score:5, Informative)
Awesome little pigeons (Score:2)
I throw out my Budgie's bird seed regularly on the front lawn so we have a few of these hang out at our house quite a bit and they're beautiful little birds. The sound they make when they fly is quite distinct so you know if you've scared one off without even looking.
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We've always joked that the squeaky pigeons needed their wings oiled.
In other news (Score:2, Funny)
Sound Act As a Predator Alarm.
News for ornithologists (and creepy old dudes with lens) - stuff that flies!
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It's just like that teenager-deterrent noise: http://www.noloitering.ca/tone.html [noloitering.ca] which was ironically, but hilarously turned against adults: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5434687 [npr.org]
My hearing must be better than I thought... I'm 40 and although I can't necessarily consciously pick up that I'm hearing a 17kHz tone, it sure as hell annoys me.
15625 Hz is *definitely* still within my hearing and annoyance range...
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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 hea
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The sound of the phone vibrating would probably still be easily heard.
Natural alarm. (Score:1)
So a bird who's wings create a whistling sound in flight creates a different sound when it flees from a predator and that is interpreted as an alarm by other birds.
It seems to me that the "alarm" is a side effect of "getting out of Dodge" and nothing more. The bird did not do anything different than any other fleeing bird when it created the noise. I did not do something special with its wings other than beat them harder and faster to get away faster
The fact that other birds also react is a no brainer; "Gee
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The interesting thing is that OTHER BIRDS react to this noise and understand there is danger nearby.
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Sorry, still not "interesting". I bet if any noise was played at the same volume as the "alarm", different frequencies but same volume, that the birds would flee just as well. Birds fly from loud noises; any loud noises.
Attributing something special to a bird's natural reaction to flee noise in suspect at best.
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Re:Natural alarm. (Score:5, Informative)
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/. ate them. You were probably posting in HTML mode instead of test mode.
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Text mode. Damn non-editable posts.
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Thanks for responding in slashdot. Not many original authors show this much enthu. After all most slashdotters are not qualified in experimental biology and we are prone to comment without reading either the article or the summary. So many authors, quite reasonably, dismiss slashdot criticisms as fluff. Thanks for setting the record stragitht.
.
Irregardless is not a proper word. Regardless is what you mean from the context. The prefix Irr is usually negative (example: regular, irregular). If irregar
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Ah. Sorry :( Fair point.
*hangs head in shame*
*goes to sit in the naughty corner wearing the 'illiterate dumbo' hat in order to have time to think about what she has done*.
*repents*
On the plus side, having been suitably chastised, I promise I will use the word 'regardless' from now on :D Please be patient, I am new to the whole 'being a researcher' thing (this work was my honour's project) and still finding my feet. I am guessing using too many emoticons is going to be frowned upon too, so apologies in adva
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Added bonus: when pompous people try and claim that 'irrespective' isn't a word (probably because they are confusing it with irregardless,) you can smile smugly and inform them of their ignorance.
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In vocal alarm systems, there are practically no costs to producing false alarms.
And a possibility for great reward, as the Blue Jays know well. Bastards love to alarm call right as they're swooping in to the bird feeder.
Anyway, sorry you didn't find it interesting, each to their own.
Yeah, I wouldn't put much stock in the fact that a guy who knows literally nothing about the subject other than what they read in the summary, and is trying to use that vast body of knowledge to prove that they are smarter th
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Thanks for the post. Very interesting stuff.
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I think the other thing that is interested is that it isn't just "other birds". I have horses and I've always noticed that when a flock of birds take off normally that the horses won't even lift their heads from grazing. When the birds take off in a panic the horses heads come up and they scan looking for the predator and sometimes begin defensive measures (spooking or bolting).
When you spend a lot of time riding in fields on a spooky horse you get trained to the sound as well. Birds in a flock moving ar
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This is interesting! There is a lot of evidence that different bird species can recognize the alarm noises/actions of other bird species (with similar predators), and some stuff on monkeys recognizing bird alarms as well. I haven't heard of horses spooking to spooking bird flocks before. I wonder if the horse is spooking to the louder sound of a spooked flock, or if it understands that the birds have seen a threat. I guess it would depend what the birds were most often spooking from, if the birds usually sp
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The horse that is worst for spooking at danger signs (the alpha horse) is also the only one that could probably survive on his own. Most of the others wouldn't last the winter. I have one that used to winter in Flordia before I got him an he still hasn't learned that you can't drink ice and he bangs his face into frozen puddles when he wants to drink.
Woodpigeons clap their wings (Score:1, Informative)
From http://www.gardenbird.co.uk/Wood-Pigeon-Information/Bird-Watching/GBS_birdType_WoodPigeon,default,pg.html
Sometimes they can be seen feeding on nut bags but because of their large size they generally forage on the ground and if they are disturbed when feeding they clap their wings to scare off other birds.
Run you pigeons! (Score:2)
Did the researchers employ Robert Frost shaped balloon sculptures in this study?
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Mourning doves too... (Score:1)
I have mourning doves nestling on my balcony, their wings also whistle, but it seems like every time they take off, and not only when they're alarmed.
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I know the one... (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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;-D
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That's just cruel. Locals know that dropbears *love* vegemite as much as the ears that it is smeared on. YOU shouldn't be telling people such fabrications or else tourists might get hurt trying to stop them. A bit of responsibility, please.
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One nearly took a roo steak I had on the barbie right off the barbie, the cheek of the thing. Fortunately I was on the last swig of me pale so I threw the bottle at the friggin thing. I dunno what it's like around your way but the drop bears here have been gettin *real* aggressive.
They can hurt ya, but maybe you can eat them?
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*sings!*
Red Backed, Red Bellied, Blue Ringed Octopus
Tiapan, Tiger Snake, Death Adder, Box Jellyfish
*Shark!!*
Come to Australia..... You might accidentally get killed!
Mourning Doves (Score:2)
Similar studies have been done with Mourning Doves [springerlink.com] (free abstract) and they have the same effect.
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Sound of pigeons flying. (Score:2)
I've always wondered why pigeons fly so loudly. It costs energy to make sound, so it can't be efficient.
It all makes sense now.
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You can definitely hear the difference when a pigeon takes off due to being startled, and when it launches itself normally. I always considered the nosie to be from coming from its wings, and as a signal conveying danger. Somehow this news seems like it isn't.
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Indeed. The theory was all based in common sense. But so is much science. We are not claiming it is 'new' information per se, we are just providing evidence that a long held assumption was correct. Just because a difference in sound exists does not then prove that the birds actually use it in communication, this study did. We are not claiming to be geniuses for 'figuring it out' and know that lots of other people would have come to the same idea independently, we just wanted to test it. I think there is mer
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Oh, believe me, of course I understand what science is, and I'm all for the independant and stringent validation of assumptions and even common knowledge. The point is, it's not really news, especially not on slashdot, is it?
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I didn't mean to imply you didn't, sorry :(
As for news, I guess that depends on what you define as news. It's not 'people' news obviously, but some news is just about learning a bit about the natural world around you, more of gaining knowledge for the sake of knowledge. I understand if you don't think it is appropriate for slashdot though, i don't really know what is appropriate here myself (i'm new, someone just emailed me that it was being discussed here) but i didn't actually post it here. You are welcom
Acts... (Score:2, Informative)
Flitter splat (Score:1)
turtle doves? (Score:2)
We have a lot of turtledoves [wikipedia.org] around here and they make a very loud whistling sound when they take off abruptly, usually causing every small critter (birds, squirrels, etc) in the area to scramble. Nothing new here?
This Thread is Useless Without Audio (Score:2)
I found some linked from this writeup [sciencemag.org]. It's a neat sound, one I'm tempted to sample and throw into music, but then again I say that after hearing almost anything.
I thought it was already well known (Score:1)
Most of them just beat their wings harder than normal to make a thumping sound to alert other birds to the possibility of danger.
I find your lack of sufficient fart jokes to be (Score:1)
disturbing.