The Spell of Ai

the rooster

Photo by Oleg Bilyk on Unsplash

Forgive my obsession over animals, but this has to be told (in the kindest, gentlest of ways) since the topic has come up.

There is only one reason a rooster crows…because he hears another rooster.

Anytime this is mentioned it will be met with skepticism or downright disbelief.

Fair warning: the chicken (as denoted by USDA) is the most studied animal there is (even though USDA denotes it a chicken and not necessarily an animal at all).
The rooster occupies a somewhat lower status but has been studied all the same.

My study began before my first day of school when my sleepy carcass would be laid down in my grandparents’ bed, on my grandfather’s side, my head lying on his sweat soaked pillow to rest while the household went about their morning rituals. Lying there listening and wondering what was going on in the world around me.

Living among farms and shanties meant there were chickens and where there are chickens there are roosters. Roosters crow starting at the break of dawn and mostly till the last hen is roosted (hence Rooster). The early hours being my quiet time, the inevitable question arose: why does a rooster crow?

So, the listening began, first with the nearby rooster, and it was quickly determined he had an interval, he will crow and then cease, crow and cease. Wait a minute, he’s listening! What’s he listening for?

So now, we’re listening together, me and the rooster, and this went on day after day. For weeks while lying in my grandfather’s place the rooster would crow, and we would listen, until finally one misty morning when everything is still and the sound travels…there it was! Faint and just at my threshold was a barely audible but most definitely other rooster’s crow. We were on to something. Call and repeat.

And from that day on any time a rooster crows we listen, together, and as sure as the dawn breaks there will be another rooster out there, somewhere; we might not hear it, but that rooster does. Even in heavily populated areas, even when there is an ordinance against chickens if you hear a rooster crow…there’s another rooster.

But what if say, there is no chance at all of another rooster anywhere around, like on a desert island in the middle of the ocean?

The answer is that rooster will not crow, ever. Now we never said crowing is the only sound a rooster makes, they make plenty, but in the very unlikely instance of no rival males (or simply being deaf) then there is nothing to crow about, and so he doesn’t.

The reasons are simple enough, but if you want the hard data, it’s out there, go get it, we don’t need convincing here.

The rooster’s hearing is discrete in the lower frequency range, well below our own hearing, low frequencies travel farther and tend to migrate (echo); his call can reach decibel levels that would cause damage to the human ear if very close up. His hearing is fine tuned to the task set forth to it and propagation is its purpose. Put two roosters in with the hens and one of them will have to die. See if you can convince him otherwise.

Furthermore, call and repeat are common to most bird species: listen to crows, one will caw, and another will respond, mated pairs and clan members can search and forage at a distance from one another (increased efficiency) while remaining in constant contact. This is so among birds. Roosters are birds.

The rooster sees everything as a threat to his affections among the ladies, most definitely and most especially another rooster, his crow is not only a demonstration of his prowess, but a warning to any would-be rival…and he never bluffs.

Now, who is the first to crow in those early daylight moments?

For the answer to that, you’ll have to ask the rooster.

Photo by Robert Bottman on Unsplash