WASHINGTON (AP) — For birds, understanding neighborhood gossip about an approaching hawk or brown snake can mean the difference between life or death.

Wild critters are known to listen to each other for clues about lurking predators, effectively eavesdropping on other species' chatter. Birds, for example, can learn to flee when neighbors cluck "hawk!" — or, more precisely, emit a distress call.

The fairy wren, a small Australian songbird, is not born knowing the "languages" of other birds. But it can master the meaning of a few key "words," as scientists explain in a paper published Thursday i...