MEXICO: Long gone do the days of Polly just want a cracker, with a group of biologists succeeding in teaching wild birds to understand a new language.
The team, led by biologists at the Australian National University (ANU), trained fairy-wren’s to flee when they heard an alarm call of another species of bird which was foreign to them.
The research proves birds can learn to eavesdrop on the calls of other feathered species.
Leader of the study Professor Robert Magrath from the ANU Research School of Biology said it only took two days to train the birds to heed the warning calls.
“The first bird we tested lived on the ANU campus near my office. There was general disbelief and excitement when the bird learned the task perfectly,” he said.
“We had been doing experiments on learning using different methods, but until then, with little success.
“So it was exciting to finally crack the practical problems of carrying out this experiment, and get clear results.”
This breakthrough could see captive birds trained to recognise the warning calls of other birds before they are released into the wild.
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