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Imagine: You watch a friend get into a heated argument with someone. Afterward, you think your friend must be feeling bad, so you spend some time consoling him in the hope of making him feel better. Scenarios like this probably seem commonplace to you, and you are likely not surprised that such behavior occurs. But many people are astonished to learn that a goose or monkey might display similar behavior. It was long thought that people were the only animals that could understand the minds of others and respond as if they knew what others were thinking or feeling, a trait often dubbed empathy. Scientists have devised studies to demonstrate this ability in nonhuman animals and have shown that we are not the only ones that display empathy. Many of these studies featured our closest relatives, chimpanzees and other primates, but researchers have found intriguing evidence that birds have this ability as well.

Imagine: You watch a friend get into a heated argument with someone. Afterward, you think your friend must be feeling bad, so you spend some time consoling him in the hope of making him feel better. Scenarios like this probably seem commonplace to you, and you are likely not surprised that such behavior occurs. But many people are astonished to learn that a goose or monkey might display similar behavior. It was long thought that people were the only animals that could understand the minds of others and respond as if they knew what others were thinking or feeling, a trait often dubbed empathy. Scientists have devised studies to demonstrate this ability in nonhuman animals and have shown that we are not the only ones that display empathy. Many of these studies featured our closest relatives, chimpanzees and other primates, but researchers have found intriguing evidence that birds have this ability as well.
 
For example, rooks who witness a social partner experience aggressive behavior from another rook will initiate affiliative contact with their friend after the skirmish, usually engaging in beak twining. Ravens console their friends after an aggressive encounter with a flockmate; the closer the relationship between victim and bystander or the greater the intensity of aggression toward the victim, the more likely the raven bystanders are to show consolation behavior (sitting nearby, preening, beak-to-beak or beak-to-body touching). Geese show elevated heart rates (a ubiquitous sign of distress) when they see mates or family members engaged in conflict. In one study of empathy in birds, domestic hens were placed in a separate area but allowed to observe when puffs of air were directed onto their chicks. The hens stopped preening, became very alert, and started vocalizing to their chicks. Physiological changes such as increased heart rate were also measured in the hens.
 
Here’s another scenario. Your friend likes two kinds of food—say, chocolate and strawberries. You watch her eat her fill of strawberries, so you think she might appreciate some chocolate. You bring her some. (Trust me, this will always score points!) In one experiment with Eurasian jays, researchers established that the birds liked to eat two kinds of larvae, and after the birds had been fed one kind—say, wax moth larvae—they readily switched to the other—mealworms, for example. Then male birds were placed in enclosures adjacent to their mates. When the males could not see what their mates were eating, they randomly chose to bring their mates either wax moth larvae or mealworms. But when they could see their mates eating one kind of larvae, the males would bring their mates the other type of food. What the males were eating did not affect the behavior; they were responding to what they thought their mates would prefer.
 
From a conservation standpoint, it is often disheartening to hear about decisions made for the short-term profit of a few people without consideration of how that judgment will affect others. Let’s remember our shared ability for empathy and devote more effort to considering the needs of others. Let’s also recognize that human development, resource extraction, and habitat alterations affect the lives of so many other beings. They are often intelligent animals with remarkable abilities, including the ability to empathize with others. Perhaps we can feel for them too and use our voices to speak for animals whose needs are ignored far too often.