Extract from ABC News
Superb fairy-wrens are more likely to put their safety on the line for their closest social circle, a new study has found.
Key points:
- Researchers have found superb fairy-wrens are only willing to put themselves in danger to help other birds in their social circle
- The wrens would respond to a recorded distress call from another in their breeding group, but not for unfamiliar wrens
- The study is the first to examine how animals living in a multilevel society make these dangerous helping decisions
Researchers at Monash University and the Australian National University (ANU) found the wrens were able to recognise the individual voices of their breeding groups, and used similar rules to human hunter-gatherers when deciding how much help to offer another wild bird in danger.
Both humans and superb fairy-wrens live in multi-level societies, meaning we have a closest inner circle, a wider circle of acquaintances we know, stretching out to people we don't know at all.
The wrens in the study were found to have three distinct types of relationships: birds from the same breeding group, familiar individuals from the same community, and unfamiliar birds from the wider population.
During the study recording of superb fairy-wren distress calls were played, which produce different responses depending on whether the recorded call was from a bird part of their regular social group.
"Distress calls are a cry for help when birds are attacked by a predator," said co-author of the study Robert Magrath, of the ANU Research School of Biology.
"So, broadcasting these calls allowed us to test how willing birds were to help others in need."
The study found if the distress call was from the same breeding group as the superb fairy-wren hearing it they were willing to go into danger to offer help, but would not do the same for unknown birds.
"We found superb fairy-wrens are careful about who they aid," Professor Magrath said.
"They'll risk life and limb for birds from the same breeding group, but are more careful when helping casual acquaintances.
"[When hearing distress calls from an unknown bird], amazingly, they completely ignored the cries for help!"
The study is the first to examine how animals living in a multi-level society make decisions about how much danger to put themselves in to help others.
Associate professor Damien Farine, a co-author from the ANU, said the study suggested the wrens' different social groups served a similar purpose to that of people.
"Like humans, the different social levels seem to have different functions," he said.
"Core breeding units give individuals access to high value help when needed, whereas the broader society of familiar birds give wrens the power in numbers when facing predators.
"Exploring patterns of cooperation can help us understand the benefits of living in multi-level societies."
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