Antarctic Birds Recognize Human Intruders [VIDEO]

Antarctica seabirds act aggressively when they recognize a human approaching their nest. Previously, this talent was thought to be unique to high-IQ birds such as crows and magpies.

By Samantha Mathewson s.mathewson@hngn.com | Mar 25, 2016 03:23 PM EDT

Crows, magpies and mockingbirds have a reputation for being able to recognize a familiar face, but new research suggests brown skuas living in Antarctica can too. What's remarkable is that these remote birds can recognize individual humans after only a few interactions. 

This discovery was made by a team of researchers from South Korea who were monitoring the progress of breeding skuas.

The brown skuas, Stercorarius antarcticus, frequently attacked researchers checking their nests to count their eggs and nestlings. Some of the scientists noticed they were being attacked at greater distances each day, as if the birds were keener to the aims of the individuals.

"I had to defend myself against the skuas' attack," said Yeong-Deok Han, a Ph.D. student at Inha University. "When I was with other researchers, the birds flew over me and tried to hit me. Even when I changed my field clothes, they followed me. The birds seemed to know me no matter what I wear."

Researchers would check the birds' nests once a week to monitor their breeding status. To test the skuas' awareness and recognition skills, researchers had pairs of people walk in various directions, both away and toward skua nests. Each pair consisted of a scientist who had frequently visited the bird's nest - the intruder - and a neutral human who had never conducted field tests.

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Siberian jays can recognize unfamiliar, distant relatives

Date: October 26, 2015

Source: University of Zurich

Can animals recognize distantly related, unfamiliar individuals of the same species? Siberian jays possess this ability as evolutionary biologists recently could demonstrate for the first time. This bird species belongs to the crow family and is able to accurately assess the degree of kinship to unfamiliar individuals. This ability provides advantages when sharing food and other forms of cooperation.

In few mammal, birds and fish species, individuals can recognize unfamiliar siblings. Until now, however, it remained unclear whether animals also are able to identify more distant, unfamiliar relatives. Evolutionary biologists from the University of Zurich recently demonstrated that Siberian jays, a member of the crow family, evolved this ability.

Kinship is a critical factor favoring cooperation between individuals. The reason behind this pattern is that helping closely related individuals aids propagating own genes. Consequently, most insects, meerkats or birds that breed cooperatively, i.e., individuals help to raise offspring that are not their own, live in family groups. The Siberian jay, which occurs in Northern Scandinavia and the Siberian taiga, lives in family groups that share a territory. 

Non-breeding birds are both offspring that remain with their parents for several year beyond independency and individuals that immigrate into groups early in their lives.

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Barn owl nestlings recognise their siblings' calls

Barn owl nestlings recognise their siblings' calls, according to researchers.

Instead of competing aggressively for food, young barn owls are known to negotiate by calling out.

A team of scientists in Switzerland discovered that the owlets have remarkably individual calls.

They suggest this is to communicate each birds' needs and identity in the nest.

The findings were announced in the Journal of Evolutionary Biologyby Dr Amelie Dreiss and colleagues at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

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