EDUCATION | BIRDS
How Birds Cheat Meerkats
In Australia, if you call someone a ‘drongo’ they’re being a bit of stupid fool. But let me tell you, the Fork-tailed Drongo(Dicrurus adsimilis) is anything but.
These are an African bird, and they hang out in the savannah where they hunt for food. But finding your own meal can be hard work. Wouldn’t be easier if some obliging Meerkat could serve you up a juicy grub instead? Well, say no more, because these birds have worked how to get Meerkats to do exactly that.
Meerkats are a special kind of social mongoose, and the key to their success is that every member of the family looks out for everyone else. Through the day, while they forage and scamper about the scrub, there is always one member of the family standing sentry, ready to let out a warning cry the moment they spy a stalking predator. I’m sure you’ve seen the way they pop up on their hind legs, ears pricked, all alert and adorable.
Now, Meerkats have to watch out for birds — eagles, hawks and other raptors are always ready to swoop in to snatch one unawares. Drongos don’t really pose a threat … at least not in that way. But while our Meerkat family forages for food, the Drongo watches on with jealous eyes, and as it watches it hatches a plan.
Before too long a hawk appearance in the distance. The Drongo spots it before the sentry and lets out a warning call. The Meerkats pay heed to the alarm and quickly disappear into their burrows. Once the danger has passed they re-emerge and go back to their business. The Drongo has earned their trust.
But before too long, they hear the warning call again. And once again, they drop what they’re doing and make for the hill … or rather holes. But this time it is a false alarm. The Drongo had waited until it saw a Meerkat with a particularly plump grub before it let out its call. And now, with the Meerkats gone, it swoops down to snag its meal for free. Naturally our Meerkat friends are somewhat miffed. When the Drongo tries the same trick again they ignore its siren song. But our story doesn’t end here: the Drongo has one more trick up its wing.
You see, the Drongo can also mimic other sounds. Suddenly, the family hears a new call. It isn’t a bird this time, but their own sentry’s warning call. This alarm cannot be ignored and they all drop what their doing and scurry away. But as they reach their burrow and look back, they see the trickster Drongo stealing their dinner again. The Drongo, it turns out, has learnt how to mimic the sentry’s warning call. Gobbles down its ill-gotten gains and laughs its snooty bird laugh.
It’s an amusing behaviour, but the interesting part is that it seems to suggest that the Drongo has a theory of mind. This is an idea that says the Drongo understands things from the Meerkats’ perspective, has an insight into what motivates them and can exploit it. It has wits enough to work how to first gain their trust and then betray them. For a long time it was believed only human possessed such cognitive abilities, but we are finding more and more that many birds can do it too. Turns out they’re not so bird-brained after all.
