Superb blue fairy-wrens eavesdrop on other bird species to learn when a predator is nearby, research has revealed.

New research from the Australian National University shows the species learns the danger calls from other small birds in its habitat.

Superb blue fairy-wrens are small birds found mainly around south-eastern Australia and parts of South Australia.

Researchers found the birds learnt to respond to alarm calls during a process in which the researchers played recorded sounds to the birds.

Blue fairy-wrens are mainly found in south-eastern Australia and South Australia. ( Supplied: Jessica McLachlan )

Some of those bird species recorded and played back included white-browed scrubwrens and New Holland honeyeaters.

Lead researcher Robert Magarth said the research proved fairy-wrens were able to learn from other bird species, similar to how humans learnt from others.

Honeyeaters, not emus

The research indicated fairy-wrens also understood that they had different predators to larger birds.

Researchers from ANU found the birds responded to alarm calls from other birds. ( Supplied: Jessica McLachlan )

"A lot of species give alarm calls, but they often sound different," Professor Magarth said.

"An emu is not going to care very much if a fairy-wren calls out 'danger', because the danger to a fairy-wren is probably not something that would threaten an emu.

"From a fairy-wren's point of view, what's important is to listen in on alarm calls from species that are relevant."

An extra set of eyes

Anne Peters, a social professor at Monash University who focuses on birds, said the research showed new interactions with bird species.

She said blue fairy-wrens, because of their bright colour, were at greater risk of predation "and they appear to be aware of that".

Female fairy-wrens don't turn blue during mating season, unlike males. ( Supplied: Jessica McLachlan )

"You can't have your eyes everywhere and fairy-wrens are ground-dwelling birds, and honeyeaters are higher up in the trees," she said.

"That's an easy way of learning about predators that are further away, by listening in on honeyeaters."

Professor Peters said the research broadened our understanding of what information animals took from their environment.

"We always knew that members of the same species talked to each other and slowly we've come to understand that they listen in on other species," she said.

"This, essentially, takes that a whole step further."

The importance of conservation

Professor Magarth said knowing about the ways in which different species interacted with each other proved ecosystems needed to be preserved.

Professor Peters says the research shows new interactions among bird species. ( Supplied: Jessica McLachlan )

"New Holland honeyeaters have quite loud calls so they can be heard by lots of other birds and also they're very good at spotting hawks," he said.

"If the honeyeaters went extinct locally, that would be bad news for fairy-wrens."

He said the research could also be used to help train captive endangered birds about potential dangers in their environment when they were released.

"When they get released into the wild, they can understand alarm calls of other species around them," he said.