In the winter trapping season of 2021-2022, the SNL trapping team observed Black-Capped Chickadees freeing their flockmates from Potter traps. These traps are small wire cages with a solid bottom and swing door that is released down when the bird steps on a “trigger,” moving the release bar that normally props the door open. We observed on two separate occasions a free chickadee flying into the door of a sprung trap, which momentarily pushed the door open enough for the bird inside the trap to escape. 

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I am currently performing a systematic review of Rescue Behavior, which has only been experimentally tested in rats and ants. Two bird species (Seychelle's Warblers and Australian Magpies) have been documented engaging in rescue behavior. 

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I am also preparing an experimental laboratory study to determine if what we observed in the wild is truly rescue behavior or is motivated by some other factor (like food seeking behavior, as the traps were baited with sunflower seeds). 

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This would be the first ever experimental study of rescue behavior on birds, filling a major gap in the rescue behavior literature. Rescue behavior in wild vertebrates is rare in the literature, and mostly anecdotal or observational. These accounts also focus on occasions where animals are rescued from predators, and an argument can be made that this is not truly rescue behavior but cooperative self-defense. If what I see with the chickadees is demonstrated to be rescue behavior, it would be a groundbreaking study with incredible impact and would give us a deeper insight into the cognitive and social capabilities of chickadees.