[This was written by Fran Siebrits and published online by Wild Magazine http://www.wildcard.co.za/, 2011]
How many of us would change our behaviour if we knew certain animals could remember every mean thing done to them by specific individuals? For all we know they may be holding a grudge and are going to act in revenge one of these days.
Well, it’s pigeons you want to watch out for because they are able to recognise and remember individual humans.
New research suggests that your average pigeon in the street can tell humans apart using facial characteristics. When it comes to perception, these feral pigeons show many similarities to those trained in laboratories.
The fascinating findings come from a series of experiments done in a park popular with pigeons. Two researchers wearing different coloured lab coats put out food for the pigeons, but only one of the researchers chased them away. In a later session both researchers allowed the pigeons to feed, but the birds steered clear of the researcher who had shooed them away earlier.
The next time the experiment was conducted, the researchers swapped lab coats. Even though the researchers were both female and of similar age, build and skin colour, the pigeons avoided the researcher who was initially hostile towards them. Even when the lab coats were randomly swapped between experiments, the pigeons still recognised and avoided the ‘mean’ researcher.
It may be that pigeons have evolved the ability to discriminate between humans because of their long history of living among us. It is significant that the pigeons did not choose to use the prominent coloured lab coats for identifying the researchers but used their facial characteristics instead. Further research is needed, however, to define the evolutionary reason and importance hereof.
Okay, so pigeons are able to tell individual humans apart. Maybe think twice before attempting to kick one out of the way next time – it might eventually track you down one day and land a wet one on your head.
Source:
Society for Experimental Biology (2011, July 2). Pigeons never forget a face. ScienceDaily.
Viewed online [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/03/110703132527.htm]
How many of us would change our behaviour if we knew certain animals could remember every mean thing done to them by specific individuals? For all we know they may be holding a grudge and are going to act in revenge one of these days.
Well, it’s pigeons you want to watch out for because they are able to recognise and remember individual humans.
New research suggests that your average pigeon in the street can tell humans apart using facial characteristics. When it comes to perception, these feral pigeons show many similarities to those trained in laboratories.
The fascinating findings come from a series of experiments done in a park popular with pigeons. Two researchers wearing different coloured lab coats put out food for the pigeons, but only one of the researchers chased them away. In a later session both researchers allowed the pigeons to feed, but the birds steered clear of the researcher who had shooed them away earlier.
The next time the experiment was conducted, the researchers swapped lab coats. Even though the researchers were both female and of similar age, build and skin colour, the pigeons avoided the researcher who was initially hostile towards them. Even when the lab coats were randomly swapped between experiments, the pigeons still recognised and avoided the ‘mean’ researcher.
It may be that pigeons have evolved the ability to discriminate between humans because of their long history of living among us. It is significant that the pigeons did not choose to use the prominent coloured lab coats for identifying the researchers but used their facial characteristics instead. Further research is needed, however, to define the evolutionary reason and importance hereof.
Okay, so pigeons are able to tell individual humans apart. Maybe think twice before attempting to kick one out of the way next time – it might eventually track you down one day and land a wet one on your head.
Source:
Society for Experimental Biology (2011, July 2). Pigeons never forget a face. ScienceDaily.
Viewed online [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/03/110703132527.htm]
No comments:
Post a Comment