I have recently noticed bird behaviour which I have never heard about before, and was wondering if my interpretation is correct.
Both occasions relate to birds appearing to ask for food to be put out for them.
On the first occasion, I was round the front to the house. A robin appeared close by (4' or so) on the fence. It was watching me. When I went closer, it hopped a little further along the fence, again watching me. It continued doing this until it had taken me round to the back of the house when it flew to the empty feeder, still watching me. Once I had put out more seed it was happy.
The second (and several subsequent occasions) involved a pair of dunnocks. This only happens when the feeder is empty. If the birds see me sitting in the window, they will go to a large pot on our terrace, maybe 5' from the window and hunker down, vibrating their wings, the way baby birds do when the parent arrives to feed them. Then one of the dunnocks will hop to the window ledge, maybe just 3' away (albeit the other side of the glass), catch my eye and then hop back to the pot to repeat the process. Again, once the feeder has been refilled, they are happy.
Am I misinterpreting the behaviour? Have others experienced this behaviour?
If they really asking for food, it shows a significant level of intelligence that a) they know that we put the food out for them. It doesn't just happen and b) they have worked out a way to communicate with us (stupid) humans.