How Ravens Play PoliticsToo

It appears that ravens may be even more viciously political than your average high school drama queen. That's at least according to a new study of these highly intelligent birds, who appear to have a social system that's characterized by alliances, betrayal, and sabotage between "friends."

The study, recently published in the journal Current Biology, details how in raven society, a bird gains power and influence over a flock by forming coalitions with other ravens.

Almost as it is with politicians and even nations, "bonded" ravens with the most social ties and allies can be found sitting high on the hierarchical totem pole, potentially earning better mating privileges, mutual protection, and perhaps even shared food sources.

However, if you think making friends is easy in the raven world, think again. Researchers from the University of Vienna (UV), in Austria, Germany, found that ravens will often try to sabotage bonding attempts between other ravens.

Researcher Jorg Massen, from the UV's Department of Cognitive Biology, recently explained to BBC Earth that he and his colleagues observed a stunning 106 obvious interventions. These often involved physical interventions, when two birds bonding - saying preening one another - are interrupted by a third bird shoving his way between them.

This didn't always end well for the intervener, who could be attacked by the bonding pair. But for the birds, these tactics may be worth the risk. After all, it's a strategy used even by human world leaders.

"I think the divide and rule tactic is a common tactic among politicians, especially in a multi-party political system where 'power' [or] a majority relies on a coalition," Massen told BBC.

He also points out that world powers are always trying to divide one another all the time, and while this is often done in a more complex and subtle manner, the end result is the same.

However, the researcher is quick to admit that this is simply the first time that this behavior has been closely observed. It may have more than just a social purpose, he proposes, but as things stand, it simply looks to be another tool in a raven's popularity contest arsenal.

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