This footage was filmed and produced 25 March 2024.

Groundbreaking research conducted at the University of Tokyo has uncovered a remarkable discovery: Japanese tits, a small bird species, employ wing movements as symbolic gestures to convey messages, including the equivalent of "after you." Led by Associate Professor Toshitaka Suzuki and his colleague Norimasa Sugita, the study challenges conventional wisdom regarding nonverbal communication in the animal kingdom, significantly advancing our understanding of avian behavior.

For over 17 years, Suzuki and his team have meticulously observed the behavior of Japanese tits, known for their complex vocalizations and social interactions. During the breeding season, mating pairs of Japanese tits build nests in tree cavities, exhibiting intricate communication patterns as they care for their offspring.

The researchers observed a fascinating behavior during nest visits: when a mating pair arrives with food, one bird often perches nearby and performs a distinctive wing-fluttering display towards its mate. Remarkably, this gesture prompts the recipient to enter the nest first, akin to the human gesture of "after you." Detailed analysis of over 320 nest visitations revealed a consistent pattern: the mate who received the wing-fluttering signal typically entered the nest first, followed by the gesturing bird.

According to Suzuki, this behavior fulfills the criteria of a symbolic gesture: it occurs exclusively in the presence of a mate, ceases upon the mate's entry into the nest, and encourages the mate to enter without physical contact. Notably, the gesture is directed at the mate, rather than the nest box itself, distinguishing it from deictic gestures used to indicate objects of interest.

The prevalence of this complex communication strategy among Japanese tits challenges previous notions that symbolic gestures are unique to humans and great apes. Suzuki speculates that the evolution of gestural communication in birds may be facilitated by their upright posture on perches, analogous to the role of bipedalism in human gesture development.