Wild birds learn foreign 'languages'

[Francis Hult]

MSNBC

 

Wild birds learn foreign 'languages'

 

Skill can mean life or death for songbirds that pay attention to alarm calls

 

Birds may be bilingual, trilingual or better, suggest new findings that birds in the wild can learn the vocalizations of other species. 

 

The discovery not only proves that birds eavesdrop on what other birds are saying, but it also provides some of the strongest evidence to date that birds can learn "foreign" calls, as opposed to just confusing similar sounds with their own. 

 

While humans may learn a foreign language for work or pleasure, the skill can mean life or death for little songbirds that, according to the study, pay attention to the alarm calls sounded by other birds when a predator, such as a hawk, approaches. 

 

Full story:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27684211/

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