A new study of Japanese tits provides the first evidence of non-primate animals using gestures to convey messages

When a mated pair of small birds called Japanese tits arrives at the nest, one of them might flutter its wings at the other. The second bird then typically enters the nest first. This motion might be a signal, meant to convey the message “after you” to the other bird, scientists reported Monday in the journal Current Biology.

The research provides the first evidence of animals besides primates using gestures to communicate meaning. The result “shows that Japanese tits not only use wing fluttering as a symbolic gesture, but also in a complex social context involving a sender, receiver and a specific goal, much like how humans communicate,” Toshitaka Suzuki, a co-author of the new study and a biologist at the University of Tokyo, tells Science News’ Darren Incorvaia.