Natural History Wanderings

The Guardian reported

Prairie dogs bark to alert each other to the presence of predators, with different cries depending on whether the threat is airborne or approaching by land.

But their warnings also seem to help a vulnerable grassland bird.

Curlews have figured out that if they eavesdrop on alarms from US prairie dog colonies they may get a jump on predators coming for them, too, according to research published on Thursday in the journal Animal Behavior.

Read more at Crafty curlews: birds eavesdrop on prairie dog calls to evade predators