This is so cool!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jmys2abx4co

(There's also a part 2, which is even better!)

I know that different sounds have meanings, like the aerial predator alert is a high pitched "tsee tsee" and the ground predator is the churring sound, and there are contact calls. But this researcher found that bird grammar is a lot more complex than we thought!

I had a tame great tit, I called him Tubbie. I think imitating animal calls is kind of an #autistic thing? I used to try to imtitate the "peep peep churrrr" noise, which according to this video may be the pitsupi jajaja call? Haha, was I saying, hey I'm the predator (that gives you mealworms)? I don't suppose they even recognised it as an attempt to speak their language. Anyway, he couldn't really tell me from anyone else wearing a hijab in my garden, or at least, he used to ambush my mum thinking she was me. But when he was within earshot and I'd call out, "Tubbie! Wormies!" he'd fly to our garden and look out for me holding the worm tub. If the shed door was open, he'd fly into it and hop about on the tub, because he couldn't open the lid.

I also had a semi-tame blackbird who would recognise my voice. I'd move the worms around the garden and when he came in, I'd click and point to where I'd put the worm dish that day and he'd fly straight to that part of the garden.

Both my tame blackbirds were killed by cats. One of them was tortured to death.

Keep your freaking cats indoors or get them a catio to keep wildlife safe! You don't have a right to kill wildlife via your cat nor force your PET on neighbours who don't want it. Stop being so selfish.

#Birds #BirdsAreCool #catowners #controlyourcat #wildlife

"An immature Cooper’s hawk was observed hunting birds near a road intersection using queues of cars waiting for green light as cover. The queues grew sufficiently long only when pedestrian crossing regime was activated at the streetlight. The hawk apparently learned to prepare for attack when sound signals indicated the activation of pedestrian crossing regime."

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ethology/articles/10.3389/fetho.2025.1539103/full

#BirdsAreCool #science #wisskomm