"Chris Evans of Australia's Macquarie University, and Peter Marler, formerly of University of California, Davis, found that when different predator alarm calls are played back on a tape to hens or roosters, they make the appropriate response calls. However, they will only emit a warning call if there is another chicken present to hear it. This is referred to as audience effects and is another indication of intentionality in their communication.
"Recognition of this level of complexity in a chicken's communication was considered groundbreaking. 'Until very recently, we believed only primates were capable of such sophisticated communication,' comments Professor Kaplan. 'It proves that birds have a semantic way of communicating and these are the rudiments of language.' " (Amy Hatkoff, The Inner World of Farm Animals [Steward, Tabori & Chang, New York, 2009], pp. 40-41.)
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