Tweets going viral: birds can 'learn second language' from peers

The Australian fairy wren can master the meaning of a few key 'words' by listening to other speciesBirds can learn a second language by listening to the tweets and chirps of other birds, helping them to find out when a predator is approaching, scientists have found.Wild animals are known to listen to each other for clues about lurking predators, effectively eavesdropping on other species' chatter. Birds, for example, can learn to flee when neighbours cluck the equivalent of "hawk!" -- or, more precisely, emit a distress call. Continue reading...