Learning from Animals that Learn.

MALURUS cyaneus; ANIMAL communication; BIRDSONGS; ANIMAL sounds; FLINDERS University of South Australia; ANIMAL behavior; NEST building; COMMUNICATION; ORNITHOLOGY

The article presents the author's views on the results of a study by Flinders University of South Australia BirdLab which found that communication in some birds starts before birth and that it is crucial for survival. She discusses the behavior of mother superb fairy wrens who sing to their eggs several days before they are hatched and that her children produce the same begging call which is different from the call of other wren families. She explores why mothers teach the nestlings a particular begging call which include avoiding from being parasitised by cuckoos who lay their eggs in the nest. She adds that the cuckoo nestling ejects other eggs in the nest and deceives mother wrens into rearing it. She comments that the wren begging calls play an important role in detecting intruders. INSET: Sanctuary Inspires Street Art.