At least one type of bird has eyes that communicate in ways similar to the human eye.  Recent research shows that the jackdaw, a crowlike bird of Europe and parts of Asia, communicates with its eyes much more than does our close relative the chimpanzee, and much more than ’man’s best friend’ the dog.

     When presented with a preferred food by a human, a jackdaw waited longer to retrieve the food when the person was gazing at the food than when the human looked away.  The jackdaws even ‘read’ a human’s gaze intended to help them find hidden food.  For instance, when a human looked toward a place where food had been hidden, then pointed to the spot, then looked toward it again, the birds picked up the cue, searched that spot, and found the hidden food.

     Not only do jackdaws respond to signals from the eyes much as humans do, but their eyes also look similar to ours.  The dark pupil is surrounded by an iris.  The silvery white jackdaw iris is, shall we say, eye-catching. 

     The researchers, led by Nathan Emery of the University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University of London, believe that jackdaws’ eyes are sensitive to human eyes because, as with humans, eyes are an important means of communication for them.  Jackdaws mate for life and “need to closely coordinate and collaborate with their partner, which requires an efficient way of communicating and sensitivity to their partner’s perspective,” says Auguste von Bayern, one of the researchers. 

     The results suggest that birds may deserve more respect for their mental abilities, according to an article about the research in Current Biology.  “We may have underestimated the psychological realms of birds,” says von Bayern.

     A few other interesting facts about jackdaws:

• More than most birds, jackdaws practice active food sharing.  It is usually the donor who initiates the sharing, and the food shared is more likely to be a preferred item, rather than one less preferred by jackdaws.  A jackdaw may share with many individuals, regardless of gender or kinship.
• Jackdaws used to nest in crevices in the lintels of Stonehenge.  The birds are famous for nesting in church steeples.
• Jackdaws are known to steal shiny objects and to hide them in their nests.–April Moore 

This entry was posted on Monday, April 6th, 2009 at 7:41 am and is filed under Insights and Visions on the State of the Earth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.