lp@well.sf.ca.us (Lily Pond) (05/30/91)
I have a birdfeeder right outside my kitchen window. I usually remember to keep it filled. When I go out on the front porch to fill it, the mourning doves always sit on the phone wires and watch me (or in the tree). They don't fly right over or anything, but they do watch. My question is, do they understand that I'm putting the food there for them? When I forget to fill it, and they come over and see me through the kitchen window, do they know it's me in there, who hasn't put the food in the feeder (which is large and they can stand on)? I don't really ask this out of guilt -- they get plenty of food; it's just curiosity. Do we know these things? Can we extrapolate from pet birds?
rdmiller@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Ruth D Miller) (05/30/91)
In article <25107@well.sf.ca.us> lp@well.sf.ca.us (Lily Pond) writes: >My question is, do they understand that I'm putting the food there for them? >When I forget to fill it, and they come over and see me through the kitchen >window, do they know it's me in there, who hasn't put the food in the feeder >(which is large and they can stand on)? > It certainly seems reasonable to me that birds recognize who feeds them. Mourning doves, though not the brightest birds going, are not dumb either, and we've heard here of red-winged blackbirds who recognize "regular" humans, and pet birds know one human from another. So why not? Ruth
edm@verdix.com (Ed Matthews) (05/30/91)
In article <25107@well.sf.ca.us> lp@well.sf.ca.us (Lily Pond) writes: > >My question is, do they [birds] understand that I'm putting the food there >[in the feeder] for them? I would speculate yes based on anecdotal evidence. Certainly birds materialize on all the nearby tree branches when I start filling the feeders. A Blue Jay begs at my grandfather's sliding glass door for peanuts. The Red-Bellied Woodpeckers at my father-in-law's house come flying up and squawk loudly when they see anyone come outside -- again looking for peanuts -- which they are very adept at snatching out of the air. -- Ed Matthews edm@verdix.com Verdix Corporation Headquarters (703) 378-7600 Chantilly, Virginia
hubler@galaxy.lerc.nasa.gov (Dale Hubler) (05/30/91)
In article <1991May29.204808.7956@maverick.ksu.ksu.edu> rdmiller@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Ruth D Miller) writes: >In article <25107@well.sf.ca.us> lp@well.sf.ca.us (Lily Pond) writes: >>My question is, do they understand that I'm putting the food there for them? >>When I forget to fill it, and they come over and see me through the kitchen >>window, do they know it's me in there, who hasn't put the food in the feeder >>(which is large and they can stand on)? >> >It certainly seems reasonable to me that birds recognize who feeds them. >Ruth > > I would agree that they recognize you. I had a blue jay near my last house that would come by daily after the evening news for some peanuts. At other times, if I went outside it would see me and come to a nearby tree (10 feet or even less) and scream and otherwise beg for food. It would also sit in the shrubs near the picture window and "beg" when it saw me sitting inside. -- Dale A. Hubler -- Sverdrup Technology -- (216) 977-7014 hubler@galaxy.lerc.nasa.gov If you take an ASCII file, turn it backwards, and read it on an EBCDIC system, will you see demonic messages?
gwynne@milton.u.washington.edu (Kristan Geissel) (05/31/91)
In article <25107@well.sf.ca.us> lp@well.sf.ca.us (Lily Pond) writes: >(Text deleted re: birds and their feeders) >My question is, do they understand that I'm putting the food there for them? >When I forget to fill it, and they come over and see me through the kitchen >window, do they know it's me in there, who hasn't put the food in the feeder >(which is large and they can stand on)? > Yes, they do know who you are. Over the past three years I have adopted (was adopted by???) 2 different American Coots, a Northwestern Crow and numerous (fortunately and unfortunately) Canada Geese. When I started feeding my first Coot, it was recognizable by some missing feathers on the back of its neck. Two months went by and I had to rely on it remembering me and come running towards me to have lunch with it. However, it did have a problem when I wore different "feathers" (coats) and then I had to resort to walking up to different grass-grazing coots and asking them, "Is that my coot?". The correct one always responded but the others (coots and people) just looked at me like I was crazy (wherever did they get that idea?). Another thing amazing about this relationship was that it continued through two migratory seasons, with the mate screeching at "my coot" anytime it got too close to me for the mate's comfort. The other coot was lame but it was only noticable in the water, it was much more graceful on land though than most. It, again, recognized me before I recognized it. The crow I feed is unusual in that some of its black pigmentation is missing from its wings and tail so that he appears to be a black and white crow. His parents both have pigmentation missing also and I wanted to start my own genetics experiment by having the child stick around and maybe have more "white" babies. This crow only recognizes my tan rain coat "feathers" and swoops over my head to get my attention if I hadn't looked for him first. Yes, the birds do recognize you but it would be interesting to see what would happen if you changed your "feathers". Kristan Geissel
lp@well.sf.ca.us (Lily Pond) (06/02/91)
Several people have thusfar been kind enough to reply to this query, but the only birds anyone has referred to have been at least the size of a blue jay. Well, my blue jays here know me, which I like, and I would love the opportunity sometime to become familiar to a Canadian Goose or two, but what I still find myself wondering is: what about the smaller ones: the finches and sparrows, even the mourning doves and towhees (all of whom are regular visitors to my feeder here in Berkeley, California)? The less tame-able ones . . . do they get to know individual humans, do you think? Do they know who feeds them?
sw@cbnewsl.att.com (Stuart Warmink) (06/04/91)
In article <25180@well.sf.ca.us>, lp@well.sf.ca.us (Lily Pond) writes: > I still find myself wondering is: what about the smaller ones: [...] Well, there is a pair of chicadees in my backyard who *expect* me to hand feed them sunflower seeds every time I go outside. If not, I get a whole barrage of noises thrown at me! Not to mention the attempts at landing on my head... But on the other hand (no pun intended...) they will eat out of anyones hand as long as there are some sunflower seeds on it. Visitors think it is great! -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stuart Warmink, Whippany, NJ, USA | sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM | Hi! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JTHOMAS@DUCVAX.AUBURN.EDU (06/04/91)
I can testify to the fact that our mockingburds know us & us alone. When we leave the house they wait & squawk for (birds) their raisins. They know our cars & will even peer in the house if they feel we've gone too long without providing their snack. Last year the parents brought the baby mockingbirds once they were old enough. When we leave town our dog/cat sitter has to feed the birds but they don't come until he's far from the food. They are quite tame with us allowing us to get within a couple of feet from them. It all started when I was mocking them back one day. Now I whistle a certain phrase & they fly to their food spot & wait (unless of course, they initiated the feeding with dirty looks & squawking). I think it's really neat that these most independent of birds have become almost pets. We often sit on the porch & whistle to get them to whistle back. Invariably they improve the song & add a few fanciful notes too.
wb9omc@dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu (Duane P Mantick) (06/06/91)
If I had to make a guess, I'd say YES with one qualification: The best example of this I've seen is with the hummingbirds. They have let me get VERY close to them, where they would leave if any of the neighbors even got near. The hummers seem to know that they have an edge in terms of escape, but I feel they don't fear me quite so much as some of the other wild birds seem to. In fact, I get the feeling that some of the hummers enjoy showing off a bit. There was a female at our previous apartment who had been feeding regularly at our feeder. One evening while I was out back working on the birdbath/fountain she began buzzing me at VERY close quarters until I stopped. When I turned to try to figure out just what she was all excited about, I found two little hummers on the feeder perches! It seemed pretty obvious that these were her offspring and that she was determined to show them to me. As time went by, it was not uncommon to see the three of them together at the feeder, happily humming and feeding. When the fall migration came about they seemed to get rather silly, gorging on the nectar and then chasing each other about, poking each other with the beak! I was sad to see them go, but I was happy to get a couple of pictures of them through the windows (gee, a family portrait of sorts). On a related note, hummer experts - Are the male Ruby-Throats generally reclusive? That same summer previously mentioned we DID have a male visit once or twice only, and he was less tolerant of me being around. Pretty though... Duane