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Do birds think of themselves as one species, or several species?

Asked by Yellowdog (12216points) February 16th, 2019

I have managed to attract many birds to my backyard, including at least nine red cardinals (and many brown females) mocking birds, blue jays, doves, chickadees, woodpeckers, sparrows, wrens, and several birds I cannot identify.

They all seem to treat each other like one community.

I know that my dogs recognize other dogs as their kind, and that cats, squirrels, and racoons are ‘others’. That they recognize other pets as pets, or belonging to the family and things in the yard as wild

The birds seem to communicate or understand each other pretty well across species lines. Some birds, such as mocking birds, develop bonds of trust, but other birds are very flighty around people.

But what do the birds associate as their own kind?

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