Hey feng_shui_house this is mostly for you
Jun. 5th, 2009 04:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
linda_joyceI have subscribed to the VSL Science feed, there are some interesting tidbits coming through on it. This one explains why you are so good at bird photos, at least the Mockingbird ones but I wouldn't be surprised if other birds can do this too.
What allows some creatures to thrive in cities? A new paper by Duke University ecologists cites the ability to identify individual human beings.
The experiment was simple: A single scientist threatened a mockingbird nest for four days in a row. Not surprisingly, the birds grew increasingly defensive and started making alarm calls whenever the individual got close. But on the fifth day, when a different human approached the nest, the birds weren’t so wary — in fact, they reacted just as they did on day one. This led scientists to believe that mockingbirds are able to learn and remember individual faces and assess threat levels accordingly — a talent that helps them stay alive in the urban environment.
They look as if they are posing for you because they recognise you and are posing.
What allows some creatures to thrive in cities? A new paper by Duke University ecologists cites the ability to identify individual human beings.
The experiment was simple: A single scientist threatened a mockingbird nest for four days in a row. Not surprisingly, the birds grew increasingly defensive and started making alarm calls whenever the individual got close. But on the fifth day, when a different human approached the nest, the birds weren’t so wary — in fact, they reacted just as they did on day one. This led scientists to believe that mockingbirds are able to learn and remember individual faces and assess threat levels accordingly — a talent that helps them stay alive in the urban environment.
They look as if they are posing for you because they recognise you and are posing.
