Night Capture of Roosting Cave Birds by Neanderthals: An Actualistic Approach

Neanderthals likely captured choughs (Pyrrhocorax, Corvidae) at night in cave refuges, a behavior supported by fossil evidence and actualistic experiments. The study reveals that Neanderthals exploited these birds systematically for food, facilitated by the birds' year-round use of nocturnal roosting sites and their tendency to flee into cavities when disturbed. Nighttime hunting with fire in caves, rather than daytime open-country pursuit, is proposed as the most plausible method due to the extreme difficulty of daylight captures. This finding sheds light on Neanderthal social, anatomical, technological, and cognitive capacities, challenging assumptions about their hunting strategies.

Blanco, G., Sánchez-Marco, A., & Negro, J. J. (2021). Night Capture of Roosting Cave Birds by Neanderthals: An Actualistic Approach. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.733062