Wild birds would rather starve than wing it alone, new study says

Great tits sitting on a branch

Researchers from the University of Oxford observed that wild tits, a species of bird, prioritize their closeness over separation. Researchers created environments for the birds where they were not able to forage for food in the same location. They found that the birds didn’t want to wing it alone, and so much so that they would rather starve than leave their partners.

The birds choose to stay with their partners and respective flocks, despite the immediate need for food, reports University Herald, Nov. 15. According to the researchers, long-term benefits that are gained by maintaining key relationships seem to be favored when pitted against short term benefits: “an individual's behavior can be governed by aiming to accommodate the needs of those they are socially attached to,” said lead researcher Josh Firth in a public statement.

The experiment created for the birds was pretty high-tech. Birds wore radio frequency identification tags that were programmed to open certain feeding stations automatically. Not all birds were able to access the feeding stations. In the case of mated pairs of birds, one would be able to access the feeders while another would not.

Birds are socially monogamous. They tend to remain with their partners and their partner’s flock for many seasons.

The paired birds who were not able to access the feeders waited for their partners. They also learned pretty quickly that they could scrounge for food from the feeders, as the feeder doors were open for two seconds each time. Further, there was a bit of teamwork in action, as the birds who were allowed access would activate the feeder doors to open so their partners could be fed.

This study, which showed the importance of social relationships in the lives of wild birds, was published in the latest issue of Current Biology journal. Researchers observed great tits from 2007 to 2014. Researchers logged 6,743,553 independent feeder visits which were made by 3,198 of the birds.

*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com