A brand-new research study has actually recorded remarkable behaviour in Zitting Cisticola nestlings in West Africa.
When a possible predator approached the nest, the children were discovered to give off hissing sounds – which scientists state carefully matched the hissing of some snake types, an approach developed to discourage those animals trying to find a simple meal.
Hissing has actually formerly been recorded in nurturing hole-nesting female birds, however the findings in The Gambia by Clive Barlow and his associates represent the very first time that it has actually been kept in mind in the nestlings of any open-nesting passerine bird types.
Nestling Zitting Cisticolas were discovered to hiss like snakes when a possible predator approached the nest (Lee Johnson).
Mimicry is extensive in the animal kingdom, being a useful tool for animals to not just make it through however likewise draw in a mate to replicate. Visual mimicry has actually been best studied by researchers, with acoustic mimcry less so.
Similar occurrences of mimicry of snakes has actually taken place in a large range of bird types. For example, the nestlings of Burrowing Owls will imitate the well-known ‘rattle’ of a rattlesnake, while cavity-nesting tits have actually formerly been discovered to make hissing noises comparable to snakes.
Clive Barlow commented: “Being knowledgeable about the 1968 South African note on hissing behaviour in Zitting Cisticolas (the just referral understood to us of hissing made by chicks in an open nest) we were delighted many years later on to make the very first noise recordings of the phenomenon. Our research study was carried out in The Gambia. We’d be intrigued to understand if other populations of this extensive types, such as those in Europe or Asia, make comparable noises.”
Reference
Barlow, C R, Liu, J, Xia, C, & Lang, W. 2023. Snake-like hissing calls made by nestlings of the open nesting zitting cisticola Cisticola juncidis. Ethology Ecology & Evolution. DOI:
