Do birds "play"???

[AES]

Someone may be able to help me with something I saw today which got me really wondering.

Background. We live in a small village, about 120 inhabitants, quite country-agricultural, we're on one side of a fairly steep valley, village is down the bottom, loads of woods/forest on the other side of the valley, about a mile away from us. We normally see all the sorts of "domestic" birds you'd expect in UK, including all the normal small ones, blackbirds aplenty, etc, except that thrushes have been a bit thin on the ground recently. Plus we have magpies and big "hunting" birds (called "mouse buzzards" here) plus quite a few red kites, and the odd hovering hawk now and then (not sure what type) - all pretty standard I think.

Today, idling away in the back garden (smoking a *** if you must know), bright sunshine and not a cloud to be seen, I saw one single black-coloured bird, quite big as far as I could see. He was all alone, nobody else in the sky for miles around and he was riding the breezes, catching the odd thermal.

All of a sudden he pulled his wings in quite a way and suddenly dived, then pulled up almost to vertical. Having just about stalled he then "applied full left rudder", suddenly changing direction 180 degrees and going back down in the opposite direction at a helluva speed. If it had been an aeroplane and not a bird I'd have said he'd pulled a pretty smart stall turn! He repeated this stunt 3 times in a row, over quite different areas of the village (so not something he'd seen on the ground I guess) then drifted off out of my view riding a thermal.

Not sure what kind of bird it was (he was quite high) but some sort of crow or rook I think.

I've often seen various of the bigger birds around here squabbling over territory (I think), especially the crows chasing the kites and buzzards away from" their" territory, but this guy was definitely all alone in the sky and as said, I doubt that he was reacting to something he'd seen on the ground.

So my Q - what was he doing, any ideas? It looked to me just like he was "playing" like a kid and I wondered if birds do "play"? Or if not, what was he doing? At no time did he get near enough to the ground to be attacking anything that I could see down in the village below, and anyway, as said, I think it was a crow, and they don't attack stuff on the ground do they? Then having "mucked about" with his "aerobatics" for a bit he just drifted lazily off. Just like a kid playing I thought.

Strange behaviour or not? I've certainly never noticed anything like that before.

 

[Claymore]

.......

 

[AES]

No, not a peregrine Falcon - I've just seen a super TV programme about them a couple of weeks ago (did you know he's the fastest "animal" in the world, can do over 180 mph in a dive, and pulls up to 18G when he pulls out - a fighter pilot in a hot machine, WITH G suit and semi-reclined seat can stand about 9G)?

This bird looked a lot bigger (I was surprised to see how small peregrines are BTW). But Raven? Could be, dunno.

But was he "playing"?

 

[Lons]

Could be displaying to a female perched somewhere, it's that time of year.

 

[Droogs]

possibly a young bird practicing hunting, if birds do practice

 

[Bm101]

Wouldn't put it past any animal Aes. I'm always baffled by how many people generally regard animal behaviour and intelligence. We seem to hard to find it hard to accept different parameters of intelligence and tend to apply it to our own experience. We categorise play as, maybe doing summat for the sake of doing it and with the odd species exception regard it generally as a human experience.
And to take Lons excellent point of behavioural instinct. Quite right. I'm off to work all weekend myself to support my family. Again > I know I'm pushing the boundaries of it but it's not that far removed when you think about it.
It seems to me that generally at least we like to think of ourselves as a superior intelligence. Obviously there's fair argument for this by traditional standards but what if intelligence was based on a meritorious system? Would our form of intelligence, disposition, tool using still come out on top? Not so sure personally.
Nothing sums up our perception of animal intelligence like elephants.
I was looking for a source for a something I once read about a researcher playing the calls (voice?) of a dead elephant and came upon this article.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/nature/animal-grief/

We keep pets for lots of reasons. I had a dog once who was preternaturally intelligent. German Shepard, bear, honey badger, mastif mongrel. I can't prove it but dog could read people better than I could read him and I know a little bit about dogs. He was the Einstein of dogs. Really. I used to take him up to the mountains after work and I'd have a beer and we'd look at the view over Anglesey. Sounds mad. I know it does. Doesn't make it wrong.

Corvids (crow family) are well known for their intelligence as you probably know.

Look at this joker. He don't give a monkey's. I know he's mobbing a predator. But look at his style. He's really just having a laugh.

Talking of 'monkeys'.
The real limits to our understanding of animal intelligence are the constraints that only we are capable of emotional intelligence.
Chimpanzees can work out patterns faster than most humans. Fact.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/06/ ... ame-theory

You might have heard of Michael the Gorilla who had over 600 signs and who researchers believe told the story of his mothers death at the hands of poachers.
Koko who signed sadness or 'tears' at the news of Robin Williams death after he had visited her several times.

In a different time but not that long ago my Grandfather worked on a whaling ship. Travelled to all sorts of places. My Dad has some outstanding photos, and some great big eardrums and baleen 'teeth' to this day as well as a bit of beautiful scrimshaw his Dad did for my Grandmother. Mostly we recognise that to be outdated and unacceptable behaviour now thankfully. It was what was done then. Like me he did it to feed his family.
Our understanding of animal intelligence is vastly increased in just one lifetime.
Who knows where we might be in another generation, just a lifetime, with a little intellectual investment, hard work, and some small amount of luck. Is that bird conciously enjoying flight? No idea tbh! Is it revelling in it because that's what it does perfectly? I'd like to think so.
I'd like to be positive. :wink:
Sorry for the long old post.
Regards as always.
Chris

 

[AES]

Thanks for all the replies chaps. Interesting ideas (I DO like the idea of displaying to a female 8) !

Chris (Bm101) wrote, QUOTE: Is that bird conciously enjoying flight? No idea tbh! Is it revelling in it because that's what it does perfectly? I'd like to think so. I'd like to be positive. :wink:
Sorry for the long old post. UNQUOTE:

Don't be sorry for the long post mate, very thought provoking. "Consciously enjoying flight"?? Yeah, I hope so, 'cos I like flying too (and 'cos birds do it so much better than even the very best of "us" - NO years of training followed by a couple of hours briefing before every trip, and NO licences!), I too would like to think he was simply enjoying himself - i.e. "playing" (which BTW I believe is an important part of a child's development as well as being important for adults too - however you want to categorise the word "playing".

Cheers

 

[Just4Fun]

I wondered if birds do "play"?

Yes, birds do play. Click here to see one example.

 

[ScaredyCat]

Have you never seen Swallows or Swifts? All they seem to do is play...

 

[Shaggy]

I've seen a couple of members of the crow family "playing" but mostly in groups rather than just one individual.
Usually Jackdaws in strong winds above cliffs suddenly drop out of the sky like they've been shot, do a couple of twists and turns then fly up again.

A lot of young animals show behaviour that we would consider playing but it's mostly practicing skills they will need later in life. As for crows, my theory is they are probably practicing manoeuvrability for when mobbing predators and the predator turns on them they can dodge the attack and carry on until the predator flies away.

Then again I could be talking a load of bull' and I'm completely wrong (hammer)

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I think that animals do take pleasure in certain activities:

Collie dog clearly having a wild time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q0-k8_90UM

I think that birds definitely seem to enjoy certain activities - even if simply a sparrow having a bath.

 

[AES]

Thanks to all for confirming my suspicions - the sledding crow and the collie were great.

Yes I have seen swifts and swallows zooming all over the place here in summer (they migrate for the winter here) but I always thought that they were simply chasing airborne bugs for food. Nice to think of them playing too.

As for practising skills they'll need later on, that thought occurred to me too, but being a soppy old so-and-so I liked the idea of playing even more.

Thanks all

 

[ScaredyCat]

Yes I have seen swifts and swallows zooming all over the place here in summer (they migrate for the winter here) but I always thought that they were simply chasing airborne bugs for food. Nice to think of them playing too.

We've had them swoop down and goad our whippet into chasing them. Also had one fly in the back door, fly around the living room and fly back out the back door - none of that bashing their head against a window for half an hour.

 

[AES]

Sounds fun. We've never had birds bashing against the window (nor flying inside), but we do have a BIG flying (-ish) bug, called "May Bug" (literal translation) and we get the odd one of those banging into the window when it's dark and the lights are on (quite big lounge windows). But I always put that down to simple lack of "intelligence" on the bug's part, rather than playing. Dunno, but flying full tilt into a hard window doesn't seem like much fun to me!

 

[MikeG.]

My daughter is an animal behaviour scientist, who specialises in avian behaviour. So I asked her........she's the expert. She said that corvids and parrots are known to play, but not so much with other corvids or parrots, but with objects. She told a story about crows lying on their backs in the snow, seemingly just for the fun of it. Aerial acrobatics tend to be for display purposes, though, unless it is skill practising (dropping objects whilst on the wing, then swooping to catch them, for instance).

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Here's a corvid that definitely looks like its playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WupH8oyrAo

 

[Lons]

We regularly get birds bashing into the windows despite sticking tape and outlines of hawks on them, mostly pigeons which are just flying rats imo but have had a couple of odd ones.

Came down one morning to see the perfect outline of an owl on the window, no sign of a damaged bird so probably ok. Have a photo of that if I can find it.

years ago i was standing in the kitchen when a hen pheasant flew straight from the bottom of the gardn towards me and straight into the centre of the dg unit. Smashed a circle through the outer pane and left the inner intact.
I went outside and the bird was running in circles but flew off when it saw me so must have had a hard head. Cost me £100 for a new glazed unit.

 

[AES]

Thanks for the info from you daughter MikeG. I'm sure she knows MUCH more than I do, but being an old softie I still like the idea of "my" bird, "full of the joys of spring" just having a laugh.

That's a helluva a vid Woody2Shoes. Thanks. I just "like" the idea of birds playing now and again - "can't always take life too seriously" and all that!

We've never had birds bashing into our windows, but when it's dark and before the shutters are down we do have a big rather crazy (IMO) bug, called "MAY BUG" (literal translation) which seem dumb enough to bash into the windows as they fly along - attracted by the light I guess. Makes a helluva bang on a quiet evening, and when we go out to look there's this big brown-ish thing lying stunned on the patio. Seem to recover OK because they're gone next morning.

Thanks all, you learn stuff every day.

 

[AES]

Just realised that in the post above I've repeated myself about "May Bugs" (see P.1). Sorry, must be loosing my grip! (Actually in the middle of drafting a document on a completely different subject and it's proving more difficult than usual). Yep "loosing me grip"

 

[thick_mike]

Just realised that in the post above I've repeated myself about "May Bugs" (see P.1). Sorry, must be loosing my grip! (Actually in the middle of drafting a document on a completely different subject and it's proving more difficult than usual). Yep "loosing me grip"

Those bugs are called cockchafers around here...which incidentally is also an injury you can pick up from naked woodworking.