Bird alarm: Great tits use 'predator-specific' calls

Great tits use different alarm calls for different predators, according to a scientist in Japan.

The researcher analysed the birds' calls and found they made "jar" sounds for snakes and "chicka" sounds for crows and martens.

This, he says, is the first demonstration birds can communicate vocally about the type of predator threatening them.

The findings are published in the journal Animal Behaviour.

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