European songbirds perfect their voices while wintering in Africa

New research suggests that migratory songbirds may sing during the winter months to improve their song quality ahead of the forthcoming breeding season.

A range of European songbirds are known to sing on their wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa. This is puzzling because singing is energetically demanding, can attract predators and takes up time that could otherwise be used to search for food.


Lees meer: Birdwatch

Ravens Know What Hidden Thieves Are Thinking

The genus Corvus contains some decidedly clever birds. Ravens, for example, have been shown to remember cheaters, those that take more than their fair share of food. Now, a new piece of research has suggested that they are also able to understand the motives of others within their group. This study, published in Nature Communications, concludes that the ability to think abstractly about the minds of others isn’t unique to primates.

Imagining what another animal is seeing is a component of the Theory of Mind (ToM) – the general ability to understand what others are thinking. This is one of the key ways that humans, chimpanzees, and monkeys operate in their own societies. A team of researchers led by the University of Vienna wanted to find out if ToM applies to ravens.

Lees meer: IFLScience

Fiendish Falcons Keep Birds Prisoner Before Eating Them

Falcons in Morocco’s Essaouira archipelago have been observed "imprisoning" other birds and holding them for several days before feeding them to their young.

The unusual behavior was observed by Abdeljebbar Qninba from Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco, while conducting a census of falcons on the island of Mogador in 2014, and reported in the latest edition of the journal Alauda. Among the species residing on the island is Eleonora’s falcon (Falco eleonorae), which normally eats only insects but has been known to feed on other migratory birds such as the common whitethroat, the tree pipit and others during the breeding season.

Lees meer: IFLScience

Small birds prefer flying in company

Until now, scientists had observed that some large birds are sociable amongst each other. However, a new study has confirmed that this unique characteristic can also be seen among smaller birds such as the Eurasian siskin, a bird which is able to form bonds that last for a number of years as well as travel long distances in the company of these birds. This intimacy may favour reproduction in addition to facilitating the process of adjusting to a new place.

The sociability of swans, geese and birds of the crow family has been studied and is well understood by scientists. These are large birds that tend to form stable, long-lasting bonds. This peculiarity, however, had not been observed in smaller birds, such is the case with the Eurasian siskin (Carduelis spinus). A study published in 'Bird Study' reveals that this species has a tendency to travel long distances in groups over the course of several years. Up to this time, researchers from the Natural Sciences Museum of Barcelona -the leaders of this study- had discovered that female Eurasian siskins in captivity prefer to mate with males that they know. Nevertheless, the investigators still needed to prove that these birds, when out in nature, do indeed live together for periods of time that are long enough for these specimens to interact and to get to know each other.

Lees meer: ScienceDaily

Storks shun migration for junk food

Storks feeding on rubbish dumps instead of migrating are more likely to survive the winter, research shows. 

The bird is among a growing number of migratory species that have changed their behaviour due to human influences, says an international team.
Until recently, all white storks in Europe migrated south for the winter, but now more are flying shorter distances to snack on food on dumps.

Lees meer: BBC News

Neighborhood watch and more: How reed warblers watch out when there's a cuckoo about

It's a risky business being a reed warbler. Not only do these tiny birds embark on an annual migration of some 5,000 km from their West African winter quarters to breeding grounds in the north, but they are also 'hosts' to the cuckoo, a species that lays its eggs in other birds' nests and takes no further part in raising its offspring. When the cuckoo chick hatches, it pushes the reed warbler eggs and young out of the nest. As sole occupant, it tricks its warbler 'parents' into supplying its voracious appetite until it fledges.

Cuckoos are expert tricksters: their eggs mimic those of their hosts in pattern though they are a little bigger. If the reed warbler detects an alien egg in its nest, or spots a cuckoo nearby, it may eject the odd-looking egg. But cuckoos are so swift in laying their eggs (only one is laid per nest and the process is over in as little as 10 seconds), and so clever at disguising their eggs, that warblers are often uncertain whether an odd egg in the clutch is a cuckoo egg or one of their own.

Lees meer: ScienceDaily