You wouldn’t think it would pay to be a meerkat. These animals will postpone meals to help with the babysitting and will stay home so their family and friends can go out to supper. Helpful animals? Whatever happened to the evolutionary idea of “survival of the fittest”?
Helpful watchman
And what about the helpful “watchman” bird that lets out a loud squawk when it sees a hawk approaching? All the neighbouring flocks know to fly off quickly, which confuses the advancing predator. Yet the vigilant alarm-caller puts itself in extreme danger by its conspicuousness. Its give-away squawk may make it an instant target for attack, while those who heed its alarm get away and survive. Helpful birds? That seems contrary to “survival of the fittest” too.
Pied babblers live in groups of 3 to 15 individuals in the Kalahari Desert and spend 95% of their time foraging on the ground and in burrows.
