A new study of Japanese tits provides the first evidence of non-primate animals using gestures to convey messages
When a mated pair of small birds called Japanese tits arrives at the nest, one of them might flutter its wings at the other. The second bird then typically enters the nest first. This motion might be a signal, meant to convey the message “after you” to the other bird, scientists reported Monday in the journal Current Biology.
The research provides the first evidence of animals besides primates using gestures to communicate meaning. The result “shows that Japanese tits not only use wing fluttering as a symbolic gesture, but also in a complex social context involving a sender, receiver and a specific goal, much like how humans communicate,” Toshitaka Suzuki, a co-author of the new study and a biologist at the University of Tokyo, tells Science News’ Darren Incorvaia.
I don’t think this is the first evidence of a gesture for non-primate animals. Cats have a subtle gesture, where if 2 cats are hunting the same prey, one will look away, telling the other “go ahead” in a way.
This is the case of an article misconstruing the meaning of a scientific paper… again.
From what I gather, this is meant to mean the specific context of a gesture having the explicit, consistent purpose- that when it flutters, it means that its partner is supposed to do a specific activity with their nest.
So its not just the context sensitive “I’m letting you go first” like with a cat, or with many other creatures, its more akin to someone texting their spouse “Can you put the kettle on?”
The bizarre thing with this really is that its a visual cue, because we see this all the time with sounds, in all kinds of critters.
Cats are subtle gestures.
E.g. their slow blink thing conveys so much information. How fast you do it, how long you hold it, the tilt of your head. It all ties into the message.