If you get on a mockingbird’s enemy list, expect to be dive-bombed every time you come within the bird’s sight. That’s one lesson that can be taken from a new study which proved that mockingbirds can recognize individual people, and attack those who have bothered their nests in the past. While ornithologists knew that certain highly intelligent birds like parrots and crows can recognize humans in a lab setting, they were surprised to find similar behavior in a songbird living in the wild. This paper is “a beauty,” says John Fitzpatrick, an ornithologist at Cornell University. “It’s amazing what a bird brain can do” [ScienceNOW Daily News].
The study was prompted by a series of bird attacks. A graduate student involved in research on bird nesting noticed that when she would make repeat visits to peoples’ yards the birds would alarm and attack her, while they would ignore people gardening or doing other things nearby…. Indeed, it seemed they could even recognize her car, and she had to start parking around the corner [AP]. So the researchers designed an experiment to investigate whether the birds really could identify an individual person.
For the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers identified 24 mockingbirds watching over egg-filled nests on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville. For each nest, they had one volunteer approach and touch the eggs over the course of four days, but on each day the volunteer approached at a different time, came from a different direction, and wore different clothes. Still, with every visit, the bird grew more agitated. At first, the mother bird waited until the person came close and then flew to a nearby bush to shout out alarms calls, a behavior called flushing that birds do to distract predators in the wild. But by day four, mom was up and out of her nest when the volunteer was almost 14 meters away–and she or her mate dive-bombed the volunteer’s head [ScienceNOW Daily News]. When a new volunteer approached the nest on the fifth day and touched the eggs, the mother bird started the get-to-know-you process from scratch, and merely called alarms from a nearby bush.
Researchers say it’s remarkable that the birds can pick out one human from the hundreds who pass near their nests each day on the busy campus, but suggest that they’re building on a preexisting ability to monitor potential threats. Says lead researcher Doug Levey: “We don’t believe mockingbirds evolved an ability to distinguish between humans. Mockingbirds and humans haven’t been living in close association long enough for that to occur. We think instead that our experiments reveal an underlying ability to be incredibly perceptive of everything around them, and to respond appropriately when the stakes are high” [The Guardian].
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Image: Lou Guilette/PNAS. A mockingbird dive-bombs one of the volunteers.
May 19th, 2009 at 9:25 am
How much time and money was spent, wasted on this study?
Everyone knows Blue Jays and other birds do the same thing in the spring and early summer to protect their eggs and young.
May 19th, 2009 at 9:38 am
How does ‘everyone’ know this? Because of studies like this.
But, you are right, Phil, we should have sent the money squandered on this very expensive test to Africa to feed the starving birds there.
May 19th, 2009 at 10:29 am
“Everyone knows Blue Jays and other birds do the same thing in the spring and early summer to protect their eggs and young.”
Does everyone know that mockingbirds can recognize individual humans? Can you recognize individual mockingbirds?
May 19th, 2009 at 10:42 am
@Phil: as far as studies go, this looks pretty simple, short and cheap. And it was NOT testing whether the birds would attack people — it was testing their ability to recognize individuals. (You read the article, right?)
This is cool. It tells us that mockingbirds don’t generalize the people that they meet — they can recognize individual humans and treat them differently based on past experience. One would expect them to be able to recognize other individual mockingbirds, but to transfer this ability over to people tells us something about how their minds work and how they view the world. And knowing that other species have this ability can tell us something about how our own minds became what they are.
May 19th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Hmmm… the researchers conducted this study on a University campus. Quite possibly the researchers were the students themselves, and this was part of a project they came up with. Quite possibly for a thesis. That means that it was their time spent, them learning how to be researchers when they graduate, and them completing a process that will enable them to graduate with an advanced degree. Someday they may come up with a very important discovery.
Money well spent.
May 19th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Birds have direct lineage back to the dinosaurs, which ruled the earth for millions of years.
Discount the abilities of birds at your own peril.
And, honestly, with the cacophony of bird song out there, how can you not think these critters are intelligent and communicating? Just because we can’t understand them doesn’t mean they’re stupid – we found that out with colonialism and the slave trade of ’savages.’
May 19th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
“We don’t believe mockingbirds evolved an ability to distinguish between humans. Mockingbirds and humans haven’t been living in close association long enough for that to occur. We think instead that our experiments reveal an underlying ability to be incredibly perceptive of everything around them, and to respond appropriately when the stakes are high”
Their genetics have last hundreds of millions of years now. They have a survival skill or two. I’ll say it again, we underestimate nature at our own peril – we can’t be above it because we are of it.
May 19th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I live in south florida and I see these mockingbirds everyday. They are, of all the many animals great and small that I have observed, truly one of the cleverest and lively critters. They are very entertaining birds, with innumerable songs and aero-acrobatics that boggle the mind. They have even rivaled my jack russell terrier and Cuban girlfriend in sheer attitude packed into something so small. haha I love this little bird.
May 19th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
I love studies like this. It enforces the perspective that we are simply sharing this world with a multitude of other living beings. I read of a study on dolphins (I believe), that they actually have a vocalization that means “human”. Anyone else recall this?
May 19th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
I once raised a pair (male and female) of mallard ducks. After they were grown, I released them to a pond that had other mallards, which was about 30 miles from where I live. I came back the following spring and the two ducks (Donald and Daisy), with several ducklings in tow, separated from the other birds, and came running up to me and my wife. They were obviously very excited to see us. So, I can vouch that at least mallards are able to recognize individual people.
May 19th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
I’ve always wondered if imprinting behavior in ducks could lead to an easily domesticated fowl … Not much for cuddling though i hear :D
May 20th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
We have a mockingbird’s nest in a potted plant on our front porch. My twin sister thought it would be neat to take a picture of the nest, and the mama bird swooned in on her. Now whenever I walk out the front door to take my dog out, the bird swoons in on me too!
Mockingbird’s aren’t that smart. We’re fraternal.
May 20th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I had a bird give me an expired coupon one time, man, was that a fiasco!
May 20th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
I agree with Erasmussimo, Jo, Troy, Rarbit, and Nick..
‘Song-birds’ have been found to have highly developed avian equivalents of sophisticated hippocampal temporal lobes in the brain [centres for memory (all forms: auditory, visual, spatial, etc) . [ This could account for some of the fine discriminatory and memory findings of the experirment.] Although the spectrum of audio frequencies (frequency range) that birds can hear is reduced compared with humans, the *acuity* (acoustic discrimination) of birds’ hearing range is far greater (higher-res) than for humans. In addition, birds are able to process ‘audio-syllables’ far faster (up to 10 times faster) than can humans. Birds also have sensory cells that can pick up low-frequency vibrations. Perhaps a combination of these: visual memory plus acoustic and vibrational memory, might help the birds create a ‘memory network-grid’ for an individual based on things like ‘gait pattern’, etc.
Troy, you asked about dolphins .. i haven’t heard whether they have a vocalization that means “human”(!) but if they did (or something like it) it wouldn’t surprise me: Of all the mammals, the dolphin is one of those that’s closest to humans in terms of comparative genomics (genetics).
May 21st, 2009 at 10:39 am
Quick theory: A 100 years back or so we would have perhaps been better at recognizing individual mockingbirds ourselves. Even if they have similar markings the location and behavior of each bird would stand out. Not to apply this universally, but more so than now.
Loosing the intimate relationship we once had with nature lead to us adapting a “we’re the smartest of them all!” attitude that doesn’t serve us well. Studies like these work to reverse that attitude and change our own conception of the natural world to a more holistic one.
May 21st, 2009 at 11:30 am
I’ve met some pretty smart birds, but they all suck at poker.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:44 pm
I certainly disagree with the idea that mockingbirds may not be able to recognize individual humans. That is a preposterous statement. Why, may I ask, would someone actually think that? If humans and animals are able to distinguish between other humans, animals, etc, why would it be supposed that a bird could not do the same? It is obvious that the birds in this story were capable of doing so. Now, their very act of discerning between individual persons may be different than how human beings perceive other humans, but yet, researchers should not make such absurd proposals as the one stated in this article. I have always known that animals are more intelligent than we give them credit for, and a story such as this only enhances that thought.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I once taught a three-toed sloth to write calligraphy. So, please, don’t sell the animals short. They are quite capable of exhibiting human behavioral traits, and are wonderful cooks.
May 22nd, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Hi All:
I’m the author of the study. Thanks for the lively discussion. I’d like to respond to Phil’s initial comment — as suspected by many of you, the study was designed by students, done by students, and cost literally nothing except for time. If anything, I think it’ s a good example of how good science can be done without fancy equipment or complex experiments.
For a video of our birds in action, please check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtoM-jiXT-Y
I promise it’ll make you smile and shake your head. Please let others know about it, as I think it’s a good way to open eyes about nature and about the nature of science. Thanks.
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I am currently experiencing this problem in my yard with a Mockingbird. It does know me and will not bother other people passing my house, but the moment I exit the front door the “alarm” goes off and the bird goes for me! I was trying to water plants in the front and noticed the Mocking bird getting closer each day until one day it had enough and starting dive bombing! I squirted a jet stream of water at it and it backed off and went for another angle of attack. I do not want to harm the bird as it probably has young depending upon it, but enough is enough already! How long will this thing stay in attack mode and when will it be safe to enter the front yard again? I went for a walk a few days ago and it tried attacking me all the way down to the corner of the street. I had a walking stick that I carried with me just in case and ended-up swinging at it until I got to the corner…had to have a friend come out and “cover” me when I came back from geting the mail!!!
May 24th, 2009 at 3:37 am
People who live close to the nature – which our ancestors definitely did – knew this before. It is another well forgotten human knowledge: yes, birds do recognise humans as do animals and, maybe, even plants do.
May 24th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
“Now Scout, it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” said Atticus.
Suddenly, there was a flash of gray and something struck the back of Atticus’s head, causing his hat to fly off.
“Son of a – !”
“Jim, get my gun.” Atticus said grimly, retrieving his hat from the ground and dusting it off before placing it back on his head. “It’s time to start sinning!”
May 24th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
A few years ago, my cat used to sit (stalk? lol) under a Mockingbird’s nest & obviously this bird had it out for the cat.
The poor kitty couldn’t go outside without being attacked & finally I went out to try to stand guard for him. The next thing I knew…. I was the new target. If I went out the front door, the bird was swooping after me. If I went out the back door, the bird was waiting to get me. I finally had to use a broom to fend off the dive bombs & after a few weeks the bird became less aggressive. Why not? She/he sure taught us who was boss. lol
June 11th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
@Jen Hawse
I disagree Jen, it wasn’t a separation from nature that built up this idea in the minds of people, it was the religious zealots who were specifically spreading the message (reference the Bible) that Man by right had dominion over the “lesser animals.” I do agree that studies like this promote a more holistic, saner viewpoint.
June 30th, 2009 at 1:38 am
We have a mocking bird and it’s nest in our front yard and noneof us have even approached the nest but as soon as we step outside or get out of our car she’s diving at us it’s very onnoying!!
July 11th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Yep, It’s true about these Mocking Birds, we have a nest down low in a tree, and my son goes out all the time to see them, (he’s grown) and the birds see him coming and dive bomb him in the head, it’s sooooo funny, there are 5 little baby birds in the nest. My husky was within 10 feet today and it got him in the back, he jumped, turned around, and almost had the bird in his mouth-then I would have had to rescue him, if possible, one chomp he/she would have been gone. What’s funny though, is that my dog cannot reach the nest. Oh well, nature. Thanks for the info. God takes care of the little birds, and so shall I……..
September 4th, 2009 at 10:17 am
The fraternal twin’s comment suggests that the original study should have used siblings also to determine if the birds are picking up on appearance or some other thing like scent.
It occurs to me too that the actions of the pseudo-predatory students was (at least in the description) rather ritualistic and out of the norm. IOW “…hundreds who PASSED BY…” (emphasis mine). So they should have had controls who would also mimic the actions of the pseudo-predator after the birds had been taught that certain actions meant an “attack” was coming.
Oh and by the way, yes many humans can recognize individual animals including mockingbirds. For animals with relatively undistinguished markings, we recognize behaviors.