When a mated pair of small birds called Japanese tits arrives at the nest, one of them might flutter its wings at the other. The second bird then typically enters the nest first. This motion might be a signal, meant to convey the message “after you” to the other bird, scientists reported Monday in the journal Current Biology.

The research provides the first evidence of animals besides primates using gestures to communicate meaning. The result “shows that Japanese tits not only use wing fluttering as a symbolic gesture, but also in a complex social context involving a sender, receiver and a specific goal, much like how humans communicate,” Toshitaka Suzuki, a co-author of the new study and a biologist at the University of Tokyo, tells Science News’ Darren Incorvaia.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Suzuki has been studying Japanese tits for more than 17 years.

Imagine regularly being asked what you do for a living.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Big fan of Japanese tits. I’ve seen some, great tits as well.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Risky click of the day.

EDIT: Pretty great tits, 10/10.

[–] Jasonw911 17 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Don't. It's low hanging fruit.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

I think it’s romantic.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I don't think this is the first evidence of a gesture for non-primate animals. Cats have a subtle gesture, where if 2 cats are hunting the same prey, one will look away, telling the other "go ahead" in a way.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

This is the case of an article misconstruing the meaning of a scientific paper... again.

From what I gather, this is meant to mean the specific context of a gesture having the explicit, consistent purpose- that when it flutters, it means that its partner is supposed to do a specific activity with their nest.

So its not just the context sensitive "I'm letting you go first" like with a cat, or with many other creatures, its more akin to someone texting their spouse "Can you put the kettle on?"

The bizarre thing with this really is that its a visual cue, because we see this all the time with sounds, in all kinds of critters.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Cats are subtle gestures.
E.g. their slow blink thing conveys so much information. How fast you do it, how long you hold it, the tilt of your head. It all ties into the message.