Editor's Summary
28 April 2005
Call of the wild
The ability to discriminate relatives from non-relatives is important to many social animals. But how is reliable recognition of kin achieved? A study of a social bird, the long-tailed tit, shows that simple calls are used as vocal labels for recognition of close relatives. These calls, notably the whirring sound known as a 'churr' call, are effective indicators of relatedness because nestling birds learn them from their parents when still in the nest.
News and Views: Behavioural ecology: Cue for kin
Tim Lincoln
doi: 10.1038/4341080b
Letter: Learned kin recognition cues in a social bird
Stuart P. Sharp, Andrew McGowan, Matthew J. Wood and Ben J. Hatchwell
doi: 10.1038/nature03522