Bird Survival Training

How does a young bird learn what its predators are, what to ignore, what to mob, or what to flee? Through a series of clever experiments using mirrors, scientists discovered that young birds learn these things by observing older birds. When older birds in a cage were shown a stuffed owl, they started mobbing it. Younger birds watching from an adjacent cage could not see the owl; what they saw instead was a reflection in a set of mirrors that made it look as if the older birds were mobbing a milk can. Later, a milk can out in the cage with the younger birds was mobbed with all the enthusiasm that normally greets an owl. After the first experiment, mirrors were no longer necessary to fool the young birds. Other young birds learned to mob the milk can by simply watching the birds that had been fooled with mirrors.