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Birds Are Smart
Jan. 16th, 2020 01:42 pm1. So many sparrows!
They used to be if the most visible of British birds. Chirpy, fearless, adaptable. Then they went into decline. I was worried about them.
But things are changing. I don't know about the broader national scene but here in West Kent, close to the Sussex border, they're crowding round our feeders in the sort of numbers I remember from my childhood. They've found a way round whatever it was that was discouraging them- and they're proliferating.
2. Robins are ground feeders.
But this morning I saw one perch on top of a hanging coconut shell and peck downwards at the contents for all the world as if it had been watching the tits- and had figured out how they do it.
3. Birds are smart. They're not locked into their behaviour patterns. They learn.
They used to be if the most visible of British birds. Chirpy, fearless, adaptable. Then they went into decline. I was worried about them.
But things are changing. I don't know about the broader national scene but here in West Kent, close to the Sussex border, they're crowding round our feeders in the sort of numbers I remember from my childhood. They've found a way round whatever it was that was discouraging them- and they're proliferating.
2. Robins are ground feeders.
But this morning I saw one perch on top of a hanging coconut shell and peck downwards at the contents for all the world as if it had been watching the tits- and had figured out how they do it.
3. Birds are smart. They're not locked into their behaviour patterns. They learn.
