This is Bird Note.

Millicent Ficcan spent her career studying bird behavior and communication.

The first woman to earn a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell in 1960,

Thicken authored over 100 scientific papers.

She discovered that male hummingbirds have a whole repertoire of songs rather than just one,

outlined the linguistic differences between penguin species, and showed that chickadees take turns

singing in the morning. She was also fascinated by how birds play together. Play is one of the most

mysterious activities of animals, Vickin wrote.

Her seminal 1997 article, Avian Play, was an exhaustive attempt to categorize these behaviors.

One example was the Great Friggin bird, a black sea bird with a prominent red throat pouch.

Ficken noted that young great frigate birds

swoop, pick up, and then drop leaves or other floating objects. She compared it to a kitten

playing with a ball of yarn and suggested it might help fledglings learn to catch jumping fish

and even steal food from other birds.

Ficken found lots of evidence for aviant play.

But unlike mammals, who sometimes play purely for fun or social bonding,

she showed that bird play almost always has a more pressing purpose.

They're practicing a skill they need to survive.

For bird note, I'm Ariana Rimmel.

This episode is brought to you by Wild Delight Bird Food, which aims to support wild bird populations with clean, nutritious ingredients in every blend. Available at chewy.com.