Who's a clever sparrow then?

Click on image to enlarge.
Click on image to enlarge.

Inventive sparrows have been reaping the rewards of their cleverness after learning to open the automatic doors at Dunedin Hospital.

The cheeky sparrows have been feasting on crumbs at cafes Dispensary and Wishbone - which are in the hospital - after learning how to set off the sensors which control automatic doors at the main entrance.

Dispensary cafe worker Emma McCone, who can see the doors from where she makes coffee, said two sparrows, both females, had learnt the trick.

They hovered ''kind of like hummingbirds'' in front of the sensors and then swooped through the doors.

They had both been given the name ''Chubbs'', she said.

''They are pretty cool. They are real smart.''

Front house manager Katelyn Waugh, who called the birds ''he'' despite the suspicion they were female, said she first noticed the behaviour six months ago and the name Chubbs was fitting.

''He seems to be putting on a lot of weight over the last few months, eating all our crumbs.

''He's in here every day.''

Wishbone manager Elisa Jarvis believed there were more than two.

She admired the inventiveness of the sparrows on ''some days'', but on others they were just ''a bit annoying''.

''When people moan that there are birds in here, we say 'Well we can't actually stop them because they open the doors themselves'.

''We do try to get them out, but they just keep coming back.

''They are probably brainier than what we think.''

Ornithologist Derek Onley, of Waitati, said the sparrows at the hospital were not the first to learn how to set off automatic doors.

Groups of the birds had picked up the same skill at airports around the world.

What ''more or less'' happened was one particularly smart bird figured out how to set off the sensor and then others copied.

Sparrows, like birds in general, were ''pretty clever'' and had ''very good'' memories, he said.

Southern District Health Board medical officer of health Keith Reid played down the risk of the birds taking salmonella into the hospital.

''There is a report in the literature of a salmonella outbreak in New Zealand in 2000 which was associated with salmonella in both sparrows and humans, occurring over a wide area,'' Mr Reid said.

''I am not aware of any more recent similar outbreaks.

''There are other examples of sparrows using automatic doors to enter premises where food can be scavenged, such as occurs at Auckland airport.''

vaughan.elder@odt.co.nz

 


Watching the birdie

On two occasions this Otago Daily Times reporter witnessed a female bird hopping towards the doors, before turning away at the last second, perhaps spooked by my presence.

During another visit, I was told one of the birds was in the hospital only five minutes before I arrived with a photographer to try to capture it in the act.

Another attempt to capture the camera-shy birds by putting a video camera next to the sensor also proved unsuccessful.


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