
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


In the UK for years, milk came in bottles with foil caps. Great Tits, a common songbird, learned how to peck through the foil. The skill spread. But how? Researchers trained Great Tits in different ways of opening a box and re-released them. Knowledge of how to open the box spread rapidly, with most birds copying the trained bird in their group. In a follow-up study, the researchers made one method of opening the box more effective. Many birds quickly switched to the better method, suggesting the tits can stand up to peer pressure if they see there’s a better way of doing things. Learn more at BirdNote.org.
By BirdNote4.8
12101,210 ratings
In the UK for years, milk came in bottles with foil caps. Great Tits, a common songbird, learned how to peck through the foil. The skill spread. But how? Researchers trained Great Tits in different ways of opening a box and re-released them. Knowledge of how to open the box spread rapidly, with most birds copying the trained bird in their group. In a follow-up study, the researchers made one method of opening the box more effective. Many birds quickly switched to the better method, suggesting the tits can stand up to peer pressure if they see there’s a better way of doing things. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

43,969 Listeners

38,526 Listeners

6,740 Listeners

38,670 Listeners

1,480 Listeners

6,352 Listeners

649 Listeners

1,245 Listeners

24,318 Listeners

416 Listeners

3,367 Listeners

873 Listeners

103 Listeners

1,221 Listeners

1,709 Listeners

171 Listeners

41 Listeners

160 Listeners

14 Listeners