Animal Behaviour and Social Interactions

Helping each other is not a behaviour restricted to humans or primates. In the long-tailed tits (small birds), some individuals play the nanny for their nephew and nieces: when they fail to reproduce one year, they redirect their energy to help bring food to offspring of family members. Jennifer explains why some decide to be nannies and others prefer not to and how important that is to understand social behaviours in humans as well.

When we think about communication in birds, we often picture their striking plumage or beautiful song. However, birds also use scent to share information. Long-tailed tits, a familiar sight in UK gardens, often give family members a helping hand when they’re raising chicks and Joey is investigating whether these birds use their sense of smell to recognise their relatives, by studying a smelly substance they produce called preen oil.

Flagship species are ambassadors for their habitat. Think tigers, pandas and…European hedgehogs! Nationwide efforts to reverse the rapid decline in hedgehog numbers don’t just save Britain’s favourite mammal; they help a multitude of other species and habitats, improve people’s quality of life and, the best part is, EVERYONE can play a part! Come along to learn about how hedgehogs are ambassadors for biodiversity in the UK and how YOU can help!