“Rescue Behavior in a Social Bird: Removal of Sticky ‘Bird-Catcher Tree’ Seeds by Group Members”, Martijn Hammers, Lyanne Brouwer2017-04-19 (animal cognition, bird; backlinks)⁠:

Rescue behavior is a special form of cooperation in which a rescuer exhibits behaviors directed towards averting a threat to an endangered individual, thereby potentially putting itself at risk. Although rescue behavior has been well-documented in experimental studies on rats and ants, published cases in other non-human animals are rare.

Here, we report observations of rescue behavior in the cooperatively breeding Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis). In this species, individuals sometimes become entangled in seed clusters of ‘bird-catcher trees’ (Pisonia grandis). Just one or a few of these sticky seeds can prevent Seychelles warblers flying and may lead to mortality.

In 4 cases, individuals were observed displaying behavior aimed at removing sticky seeds from the feathers of an entangled individual belonging to their group. Intriguingly, the rescuing individuals engaged in this behavior despite potentially risking entanglement.

To our knowledge, this is the first recorded case of rescue behavior in birds.

[Keywords: Acrocephalus sechellensis, cooperative breeding, reciprocity, rescue behavior, Pisonia grandis]

See Also:

• “Australian Magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen) cooperate to remove tracking devices”

• “String-pulling in the Greater Vasa parrot (Coracopsis vasa): A replication of capacity, findings of longitudinal retention, and evidence for a species-level general insight factor across five physical cognition tasks”

• “Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons in the forebrain”

• “Cuttlefish exert self-control in a delay of gratification task”

• “Coevolution of brain size and longevity in parrots”

• “Birds do have a brain cortex—and think: Like mammals, birds have a pallium that sustains correlates of consciousness”

• “Parental provisioning drives brain size in birds”

• “Wild American crows gather around their dead to learn about danger”

• “Rats emit unique distress calls in social inequality conditions”

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