Birds have surprised us from time to time with their intelligence, instinctive movements and flock movements. Even though they sometimes exhibit behaviors that we cannot understand, the reasons behind these behaviors actually all have a scientific place.
Naturally, there is an explanation for these videos that have been frequently seen on social media lately. Do you think it’s herd psychology or instinctive behavior? Let’s explain:
Those who are unaware of the incident we are talking about can watch the video below:
- If you cannot view the video, you can click here.
We’ve seen birds go quiet when a predator is on their radar.
Actually, the answer to our question lies exactly here. Birds, which normally can easily get away from crowded human groups, cannot escape this situation so easily when the danger comes from above. These potentially dangerous birds of prey, especially hawks, eagles or hawks, are naturally the biggest predators of bird flocks.
The main reason why they are quiet here is that they do not want to make even a single “crack” sound. These creatures, which can become prey if they are noticed at the slightest, suddenly become silent and freeze as if they are doing the mannequin challenge with a sudden instinct against all kinds of danger.
Moreover, this behavior is not only a feature of bird flocks, it is also quite common for some prey creatures such as deer and zebra.
We can give the biggest example of this behavior from documentaries; generally, when a hunter enters their radar, a deer or zebra does not move at first for some reason. There are even times when we tell the deer to run away on the screen, right? In fact, behind this behavior lies the instinct of not wanting to attract the attention of the predator.
Of course, it is not known how deer warn each other against hunters, but it is certain that the birds do this with a very loud voice. Even in bird language, a voice coming from far away says “Hunter, run away!!” There is a very high probability that they will even hear the cries. Birds that talk cheerfully like children may suddenly become silent after this call, and may even ask many people around them, “Did the simulation make an error, what happened, ehehe.” He can make jokes.
It is actually a well-known example of behavior in which animals warn each other against predators.
This situation does not only happen to land or air animals; whales and dolphins can also inform their herds of possible dangerous situations in their own communication languages. Sometimes this silence can even endanger the generations of animals, what do you say?
According to a study conducted in Colorado; Recently, cows and deer have been so disturbed by the sounds made by the climbers that they have even reduced their calving rates. The sight, smell or sound of humans naturally puts wildlife on constant alert. After all, imagine having an unknown creature hovering over you 24/7, how scary and stressful is that?
Although the main part of our topic is birds, there is a high probability that you will see this behavior from insects to whales. So, we should not look for a very complicated answer behind every animal behavior, we leave it to you to say that sometimes the answer may be simpler than you think!
You can check out our other content about animals below: