(CNN) Developing baby birds may be able to sense danger and "warn" other unhatched birds in the same nest about nearby predators, according to a new study.
It sounds like one of those mysterious, inexplicable things animals do, but pair of researchers from the University of Vigo in Spain laid out a very specific pattern of behavior and found that it changes the direction of the birds' development.
Affected birds shared the warning
The researchers studied 90 yellow-legged gull eggs, divided into "clutches," which is a term for all of the eggs in one nest. They separated some eggs in a clutch and played adult gull warning calls. As a result, the eggs started to move.
"Gull embryos alter their motility when exposed to alarm calls emitted by adults, an effect that causes the egg to vibrate," says the study, published in the journal Nature, Ecology and Evolution.
Here's where it gets really interesting: When those eggs were reintroduced to the rest of their clutchmates, who were busy developing in relative silence, it appears that they somehow transmitted the information -- namely, that some kind of danger was near -- to those who didn't hear the warning calls.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/23/us/baby-bird-communicate-egg-study-nature-journal-trnd/?iid=ob_lockedrail_topeditorial
This guy may have already looked danger in the eye -- metaphorically, anyway.
Edit history
= new reply since forum marked as read
