Cluck?

January 20th, 2024| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

Snakes hiss. Dogs growl. Cats purr. Etc. Without giving it a moment’s thought, we can understand the voicings. Stay away! Or: Back off! Or: I love this! Etc.

What about chickens that cluck?

Turns out humans may be just as good at understanding the language of our feathered friends. Or so saith researchers from the University of Queensland, Australia, in “Humans Can Identify Reward-Related Call Types of Chickens,” published this month in Royal Society Open Science.

194 participants listened to eight calls when chickens were anticipating a reward, and eight calls in non-rewarded contexts, and indicated their opinions of whether the clucking chicken was experiencing pleasure/displeasure, and high/low excitement. 69 per cent of participants correctly assigned reward and non-reward calls to their respective categories. Participants performed better at categorizing reward-related calls, with 71% of reward calls classified correctly, compared with 67% of non-reward calls.

We can really feel the emotions of chickens! Whodathunkit?

They may not have facial expressions or nuances of tone, these birds, but hey!—they can cluck. And we can understand them.

FYI: Chickens can also communicate with each other in other ways. For instance, they use body language such as flashing their feathers.

Chicken expert Tove Danovich, author of Henfluence (who wasn’t part of the study) said of these avians:

They are not facially expressive because, of course, they have beaks, which I think is one of the problems that chickens have for their PR campaign for people to take them a little bit more seriously. But they are very expressive in other ways. Primarily, they use their loud, diverse, and unique voices.”

Like when they are excited, or scared, or laying eggs, etc.

Also the ability to interpret chickentalk did not seem to correlate with participants’ familiarity with these creatures. The 69% that were capable of cluck comprehension included those who had had chickens in their yards, and those who never did.

Danovich isn’t surprised that the majority of humans can pick up on basic chicken emotions through sound.

Honestly, it makes a lot of sense to me. We think of animals as being so different from humans, but of course, we are just another species. And just because we think of ourselves as being very separate from the rest of the nonhuman world, [it] really doesn’t mean that we are.”

She of the Henfluence fame, concluded:

Chickens are definitely more than bird brains. If you take the time to get to know them, they can be just as complex as our dogs and cats. Frankly, it makes the world a more exciting and complex place.”

But can hens understand humans?

This “bird” can!

Keep me as the precious pupil of the eye;
in the shadow of Your wings hide me.
Psalm 17:8

A God with wings! Not at all an uncommon metaphor in the Psalms.

How precious [is] Your lovingkindness, God.
And humans take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
They drink their fill from the richness of Your house;
and [from] the river of Your luxuries You make them saturated.
Psalm 36:7–8

Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me,
for in You my soul takes refuge;
and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge
Psalm 57:1

For You have been a help to me,
and in the shadow of Your wings I shout with joy.
Psalm 63:7

With His pinion He gives cover to you,
and under His wings you can seek refuge;
a shield and a bulwark is His faithfulness.
Psalm 91:4

Cluck!

SOURCE: Atlas Obscura; Royal Society Open Science