Starlings can tell if you are watching them, according to a study that has shown for the first time that starlings respond to a human's gaze.
Could this be exploited to make a better scarecrow? "Starlings do seem to have a reasonably strong aversion to eyes, even to artificial eyes, but these birds are also very quick learners," she says.
"Previous studies have shown that starlings will learn within a matter of hours to ignore even relatively elaborate bird scarers - these devices never do what a real predator would, they don't actually chase the birds or present any other signs of danger, so the birds quickly learn to ignore them."
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