Skip to navigation | Skip to content  Whistling feathers sound
predator alarm  crested pigeon  Flights of fear: this crested
pigeon has a secret alarm in its feathers (Source: Geoffrey
Dabb)   Behavioural ecologist Dr Robert Magrath and student Mae
Hingee of the Australian National University in Canberra report
their findings today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Birds hang around in a flock rather than on their own because
there are more individuals looking out for predators, says
Magrath: "There are more eyes looking for danger."  But if one
individual in a large group spots a predator, how does it
communicate this to the rest?  While some bird species use vocal
alarms to warn the rest of the flock, not all do.  One that
doesn't is the Australian crested pigeon, Ocyphaps lophotes.
The bird has a very curious whistling sound when it flies, which
seems to change when it flies off in alarm, says Magrath.  "You
can close your eyes and know when a crested pigeon is flying
around," he says.  Magrath