Discover Genius Animals: Empathetic Monkeys, Star-Gazing Butterflies Await!

[Column « Marvelous Animals »] Since ancient times, it’s been said: fish have short memories, sparrows have tiny brains, and bears are unmatched in cruelty… Yet, scientific studies continue to accumulate, showing that non-humans can be just as intelligent, sensitive, and ingenious. Each month, Decatur Metro will bring you a collection dedicated to these fascinating creatures.

Have you ever dreamed of gliding across the ocean at night, guided only by the stars? For most humans, celestial navigation remains a distant dream. But for the Bogong moth, it’s a common reality. A study published in Nature on June 18 reveals that this oceanic species can navigate by the stars, a skill previously known only in humans and certain migratory birds.

Every spring, billions of Bogong moths leave Southeast Australia to seek cooler temperatures in the Australian Alps, a journey of 1,000 kilometers. They hibernate there until fall before migrating to their breeding grounds.

It was already known that these insects rely on the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate their journey. By placing them in a « flight simulator »—a kind of planetarium shielded from the Earth’s magnetic influence—scientists have demonstrated that the starry sky also serves as their compass.

When captured Bogong moths were exposed to a realistic depiction of the Australian night sky, they found the correct direction. When placed under a random star field without the Milky Way, they flew aimlessly, completely lost.

Scientists have also highlighted the response of their visual neurons to the rotations of the night sky. Quite a feat for those of us who struggle to navigate without GPS.

Humans often wave their hands to greet each other. Lacking palms and fingers, do humpback whales use bubbles instead? This intriguing hypothesis was proposed in the scientific journal Marine Mammal Science in mid-May by an international team of researchers. They analyzed a dozen images and videos of « bubble rings » created by eleven humpback whales.

Many marine mammal species release air from their blowholes to create bubble structures. These structures serve various purposes. In spiral shapes, they act as nets to trap prey. They can also be used for play, to impress a rival, and perhaps even to communicate with humans, the study’s authors suggest. They observed that the humpback whales they studied only formed bubble rings in the presence of swimmers or tourist boats. This particular behavior was never observed in some 5,000 drone flights used to study humpback whales in their natural environment.

« The production of bubble rings may depend on the presence of human observers », the scientists write. However, these findings are still « preliminary » and must be confirmed by further research. Could whale bubbles be a future Rosetta Stone?

Do you ever find yourself eavesdropping when you hear strangers arguing in the street, secretly hoping for a reconciliation? You’re not alone. Wild gelada monkeys from the highlands of Ethiopia share with humans the sensitivity to vocal signs of comfort, even when they are not directly involved in a conflict.

This discovery is detailed in a recent study. A team of scientists played recordings of other wild gelada monkeys simulating a social interaction to adult males.

The vocal sequences consisted of distress calls from females, preceded or followed by « affiliative » calls from males (i.e., calls that promote social bonds or solicit some form of cooperation). Playing an affiliative call after a distress call suggested that comfort was provided to the victim; the opposite implied she was left to fend for herself.

The team observed that the geladas were more attentive when affiliative calls preceded the females’ distress calls (meaning they were possibly in a bad situation). They would stop eating or stare intently in the direction of the speaker.

This shows, according to the scientists, that geladas « understand the stakes of social interactions that do not involve them », and they « can differentiate between an unresolved conflict and a reconciliation ». Another proof that empathy is not exclusive to humans.

In the streets of Sydney, you now have to queue up with the yellow-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) to get a drink. A group of these birds from the western part of the city has learned to use human-designed water fountains, a behavior not observed in any other bird species, according to a study published in Biology Letters on Wednesday, June 4.

Drinking from these rotary fountains ensures cleaner water than what’s available in the gutters but requires significant dexterity: one must turn and hold a handle to release water from a plastic cap.

This sequence of complex movements is clearly not a problem for these birds, adorned with pristine feathers and bright yellow crests, who use their feet and body weight to operate the handle before catching the water in their sharp beaks. Researcher Barbara Klump, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Vienna, and her colleagues observed that 41 % of the cockatoos’ attempts to drink this way were successful.

Even more remarkable, this technique seems to be spreading among the local cockatoo population. It could thus be considered a « cultural tradition » within the community, said behavioral ecologist Vladimir Pravosudov from the University of Nevada, who was not involved in the study: « Once a few cockatoos figured it out, others probably learned by watching them. »

A hawk flying stealthily to surprise its prey is nothing unusual. But when the bird uses a line of cars for cover, the scene becomes more unusual. It turns extraordinary when it uses the traffic light signal to assess the length of the traffic jam, thereby maximizing its chances of capturing its snack, as reported in a study published on May 23 in the journal .

This observation was made by Vladimir Dinets, a zoologist at the University of Tennessee, as he was driving in a city in New Jersey, USA. A juvenile hawk, enticed by sparrows, pigeons, and starlings pecking in a nearby garden, burst from a small tree, flew very low over the sidewalk along the line of cars, made a sharp turn, and, weaving between the autos, dove onto one of the unfortunate birds.

Intrigued by this behavior, Vladimir Dinets returned several times to the site, which allowed him to understand just how clever the raptor was. « The hawk always attacked when the line of cars was long enough to provide cover up to the small tree, and this only occurred after someone had pressed the pedestrian crosswalk button, he explains in the study’s press release. As soon as the auditory signal was activated, the raptor flew from somewhere towards the small tree, waited for the cars to line up, then struck. »

While this behavior may surprise some, the zoologist notes, « Small birds use moving cars as mobile shelters to escape from hawks that chase them, while in a Ukrainian city, it has long been known that hawks use moving cars and trams as cover to stealthily approach their prey », he reports. From this, one might think that birds are as addicted to cars as we are…