Honoring the Dead

It's possible that animals honor their dead.  Giraffes and elephants, for example, have been recorded loitering around the body of a recently deceased close relative.  A recent study of  western scrub jays discovered seemingly greater acknowledgement of the dead.  Some actions supporting this contention.  When they encounter a dead bird, they call out to one another and stop foraging.  The jays then often fly down to the dead body and gather around it.  The investigators think that the jays see the presence of a dead bird as information to be publicly shared, just as they do the presence of a predator.  Spreading the message that a dead bird is in the area helps safeguard other birds, alerting them to danger, and lowering their risk from whatever killed the original bird in the first place, the researchers say.