We humans think we know a lot. But when it comes to how animals communicate, we have a lot to learn, according to new research boasting the first known case of symbolic gesture.
Polite Japanese bird signals "after you!" to others scienceblog.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from scienceblog.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
<p>A small-bird species, the Japanese tit (<em>Parus minor</em>), uses wing movements as a gesture to convey the message “after you,” according to new research at the University of Tokyo. When a mating pair arrives at their nest box with food, they will wait outside on perches. One will then often flutter its wings toward the other, apparently indicating for the latter to enter first. The researchers say that this discovery challenges the previous belief that gestural communication is prominent only in humans and great apes, significantly advancing our understanding of visual communication in birds.</p>
While most non-verbal gestures have mostly been studied in humans and primates, Japanese researchers found that a small bird species uses wing movements to convey messages.