Birds stand guard while others forage for food

Birds are smarter than we thought -- they stand sentry to help other members of their flock hunt for food and give warning of danger by singing a special tune, a new study has revealed. According to researchers at University of Bristol, who carried out the study, the findings showed that birds' social behaviour could be much more complex than once considered.

"These exciting results point to a great example of true cooperation. The unselfish behaviour of the sentry is probably rewarded by the improved survival of group mates, which leads to a larger group size," lead researcher Andy Radford was quoted by 'The Times' as saying.

Their study into pied babblers, a social species from the Kalahari desert of southern Africa that lives in groups of seven, has revealed a rare example of apparently altruistic behaviour, in which individuals put themselves at a temporary disadvantage for the benefit of others.

While the pied babbler community forages for food, such as small snakes and scorpions dug up from the desert, one of them stands guard in a tree.

This sentinel goes hungry as it watches for predators, allowing its group members to concentrate on feeding. To let other babblers know that it is on guard, the sentry sings a "watchman's song", and makes alarm calls if a predator is spotted, the researchers have found.

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