scholarly journals Cooperative bird discriminates between individuals based purely on their aerial alarm calls

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 440-447
Author(s):  
Lucy F Farrow ◽  
Ahmad Barati ◽  
Paul G McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Social Contexts ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Alarm Signals ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Alarm Calling ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Individual Discrimination ◽  
Social Calls ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala

Abstract From an evolutionary perspective, the ability to recognize individuals provides great selective advantages, such as avoiding inbreeding depression during breeding. Whilst the capacity to recognize individuals for these types of benefits is well established in social contexts, why this recognition might arise in a potentially deadly alarm-calling context following predator encounters is less obvious. For example, in most avian systems, alarm signals directed toward aerial predators represent higher predation risk and vulnerability than when individuals vocalize toward a terrestrial-based predator. Although selection should favor simple, more effective alarm calls to these dangerous aerial predators, the potential of these signals to nonetheless encode additional information such as caller identity has not received a great deal of attention. We tested for individual discrimination capacity in the aerial alarm vocalizations of the noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala), a highly social honeyeater that has been previously shown to be able to discriminate between the terrestrial alarm signals of individuals. Utilizing habituation–discrimination paradigm testing, we found conclusive evidence of individual discrimination in the aerial alarm calls of noisy miners, which was surprisingly of similar efficiency to their ability to discriminate between less urgent terrestrial alarm signals. Although the mechanism(s) driving this behavior is currently unclear, it most likely occurs as a result of selection favoring individualism among other social calls in the repertoire of this cooperative species. This raises the intriguing possibility that individualistic signatures in vocalizations of social animals might be more widespread than currently appreciated, opening new areas of bioacoustics research.

Perception of terrestrial and aerial alarm calls by honeyeaters and falcons

2000 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon R. Wood ◽  
Ken J. Sanderson ◽  
Christopher S. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Computer System ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Narrow Band ◽  
Broad Band ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Avian Predators ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Distress Calls ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala ◽  
Reduce Risk

This study tested the responses to aerial and terrestrial alarm and distress calls in an avian predator, the brown falcon, Falco berigora, and two potential avian prey species, the New Holland honeyeater, Philidonyris novaehollandiae, and noisy miner, Manorina melanocephala. Calls were delivered from a computer system at intensities 5–20 dB above background, to birds held in large cages. All birds located the broad-band alarm and distress calls easily, but they had difficulty locating the narrow-band aerial alarm calls, although they were able to detect most of these. Aerial alarm calls thus reduce risk to the caller. The performance of raptors and songbirds was similar. This result suggests that there are no reliable differences in the auditory characteristics of avian predators and prey, as have been described in species from the Northern Hemisphere.

scholarly journals A micro-geography of fear: learning to eavesdrop on alarm calls of neighbouring heterospecifics

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1730) ◽  
pp. 902-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Magrath ◽  
Thomas H. Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Geographical Variation ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Dispersal Distance ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Acoustic Features ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala ◽  
Malurus Cyaneus

Many vertebrates eavesdrop on alarm calls of other species, which is a remarkable ability, given geographical variation in community composition and call diversity within and among species. We used micro-geographical variation in community composition to test whether individuals recognize heterospecific alarm calls by: (i) responding to acoustic features shared among alarm calls; (ii) having innate responses to particular heterospecific calls; or (iii) learning specific alarm calls. We found that superb fairy-wrens ( Malurus cyaneus ) fled to cover to playback of noisy miner ( Manorina melanocephala ) aerial predator alarm calls only in locations where miners were present, suggesting that learning rather than acoustic structure determines response. Sites with and without miners were well within the dispersal distance of fairy-wrens, and philopatric males and dispersing females showed the same pattern, so that local genetic adaptation is extremely unlikely. Furthermore, where miners were present, fairy-wrens responded appropriately to different miner calls, implying eavesdropping on their signalling system rather than fleeing from miners themselves. Learned eavesdropping on alarm calls enables individuals to harvest ecologically relevant information from heterospecifics on an astonishingly fine spatial scale. Such phenotypic plasticity is valuable in a changing world, where individuals can be exposed to new species.

Selective Forces Affecting the Predator Alarm Calls of Vervet Monkeys

Behaviour ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 76 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 25-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy L. Cheney ◽  
Robert M. Seyfarth
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Observation Time ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Calling Behavior ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
High Ranking ◽  
Alarm Calling ◽  
Males And Females

AbstractVervet monkeys in Amboseli National Park, Kenya are preyed upon by four types of predator: mammalian carnivores, eagles, baboons, and snakes. Over a 14 month period, adult males and females gave first alarm calls at comparable rates. Both observation on the frequency of alarm-calling and experiments on the duration of alarm-calling indicated that high-ranking adult males and females gave alarm calls more often than low-ranking adult males and females. Individuals who alarm-called most often did not vocalize most often during social interactions, nor did they spend more time than others surveying the habitat around them. There was some tendency, however, for females who alarm-called most often to precede other females in group progressions. Limited evidence suggests that adult males who gave most alarm calls were more likely than other males to have fathered the group's juveniles and infants. Among adult females, however, there was no correlation between number of offspring and frequency of first alarm calls. Females who gave alarm calls most often were not more likely than other females to spend large proportions of observation time more than 2 m from their offspring. Data on a small sample of confirmed predatory attacks suggest that the offspring of high-ranking females may have been more vulnerable than other immatures to predation. Such differential vulnerability may have resulted in part from the tendency of the offspring of high-ranking females to precede other juveniles in group progressions. Vervets of all age/sex classes alarm-called most at those species of predators to which they themselves seemed to be most vulnerable. Adult vervets gave relatively few alarm calls to predators to which their offspring, but not themselves, were vulnerable, even though such alarm calls would have been of low cost to themselves and of great potential benefit to their offspring. While some aspects of the alarm-calling behavior of vervet monkeys are consistent with the hypothesis that their alarms have evolved to benefit kin, in other respects their alarms appear to have the consequence of benefitting only the alarmists themselves. It is likely that both kin and individual selection, acting on an individual's inclusive fitness, have played a role in the evolution of vervet monkeys' alarm calls.

THE EFFECT OF CHANGING CALL DURATION AND CALLING BOUTS ON VIGILANCE IN BRANTS' WHISTLING RAT, PAROTOMYS BRANTSII

Behaviour ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 138 (10) ◽  
pp. 1287-1302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliza Le Roux ◽  
Michael Cherry ◽  
Tim Jackson
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Playback Experiments ◽  
Call Duration ◽  
Alarm Calling ◽  
Functionally Referential ◽  
Long Calls

AbstractThe function of variation in single call duration and alarm calling bouts was investigated in Brants' whistling rat, Parotomys brantsii, by means of playback experiments and video analyses of the vigilance displayed. Short calls are produced in high-risk situations, and long calls in low-risk encounters, but these calls apparently do not communicate this variance in risk to conspecifics. Both short and long single calls induced heightened vigilance in receivers, but rats did not respond differentially to the two call types, and it was concluded that P.brantsii alarm calls are not functionally referential. Multiple calls maintained a state of increased alertness in receivers for a longer period than single calls, even after the bouts had ended, but long bouts (duration: 64 s) did not lead to longer periods of vigilance than short bouts (29 s). Thus the tonic communication hypothesis is only partially supported by our study.

Influence of the Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala on avian diversity and abundance in remnant Grey Box woodland

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merilyn J. Grey ◽  
Michael F. Clarke ◽  
Richard H. Loyn
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
The Other ◽  
Avian Diversity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Experimental Removal ◽  
Noisy Miner ◽  
Insect Infestations ◽  
Eucalypt Woodlands ◽  
Manorina Melanocephala ◽  
The One

The abundance of an aggressive Australian honeyeater, the Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala, was reduced at four small (<8 ha) Grey Box Eucalyptus microcarpa woodland remnants by experimental removal. The diversity and abundance of small insectivorous and nectarivorous birds increased at three of the four sites (relative to matching control sites) over the twelve months following the removal of the Noisy Miners. The one exception occurred at a pair of sites where eucalypts began flowering at one site and finished at the other during the Noisy Miner removal period. These results, taken together with those from three earlier experiments where the abundance of Noisy Miners was reduced in Mugga Ironbark E. Sideroxylon woodland remnants, demonstrate that Noisy Miners affect avian diversity and abundance by aggressive exclusion of other species. In five out of seven experiments, Noisy Miners did not reinvade the small woodland remnants during the ensuing twelve months. When Noisy Miner abundance was reduced, increased populations of small insectivorous and nectarivorous birds used small degraded woodland remnants. Colonizing populations of small birds have the potential to reduce insect infestations and may assist in the recovery of dieback-affected woodland remnants. Research is continuing to test this hypothesis. Reducing the abundance of Noisy Miners in remnant eucalypt woodlands may also be a useful, short-term measure, which could assist in the recovery of threatened or endangered bird species.

scholarly journals Faecal glucocorticoid metabolites and alarm calling in free-living yellow-bellied marmots

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T Blumstein ◽  
Marilyn L Patton ◽  
Wendy Saltzman
Keyword(s):  
Present Finding ◽  
Physiological Arousal ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Marmota Flaviventris ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Potential Predator ◽  
Alarm Calling ◽  
Faecal Glucocorticoid Metabolites ◽  
Metabolite Concentrations

When individuals of a variety of species encounter a potential predator, some, but not all, emit alarm calls. To explain the proximate basis of this variation, we compared faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations in live-trapped yellow-bellied marmots ( Marmota flaviventris ) between occasions when they did and did not emit alarm calls. We found that marmots had significantly higher glucocorticoid levels when they called than when they did not call, suggesting that stress or arousal may play an important role in potentiating alarm calls. Marmots are sensitive to variation in the reliability of callers. The present finding provides one possible mechanism underlying caller variation: physiological arousal influences the propensity to emit alarm calls.

scholarly journals Is the propensity to emit alarm calls associated with health status?

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 607-614
Author(s):  
Austin L Nash ◽  
Alexandra H M Jebb ◽  
Daniel T Blumstein
Keyword(s):  
Health Status ◽  
Intestinal Parasite ◽  
Intestinal Parasites ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Playback Experiments ◽  
Alarm Calling ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Immune System Activation ◽  
System Activation

Abstract The production and structure of animal signals may depend on an individual’s health status and may provide more than one type of information to receivers. While alarm calls are not typically viewed as health condition dependent, recent studies have suggested that their structure, and possibly their propensity to be emitted, depends on an individual’s health condition and state. We asked whether the propensity of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) to emit calls is influenced by their immunological or parasite status, by quantifying both trap-elicited and natural calling rates as a function of their neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NL) ratio, the presence of a blood borne trypanosome, and the presence of several intestinal parasites (Eimeria sp., Entamoeba sp., and Ascaris sp.). We fitted mixed effects models to determine if the health measures we collected were associated with the probability of calling in a trap and with annual rates of natural alarm calling. Marmots infected with a blood-borne trypanosome were marginally more likely to call naturally and when trapped, while those infected with the intestinal parasite Ascaris were less likely to call when trapped. NL ratio was not directly associated with in-trap calling probability, but males were more likely to call when they had higher NL ratios. Thus, health conditions, such as parasite infection and immune system activation, can modulate the production of alarm signals and potentially provide information to both predators and prey about the caller’s condition. Playback experiments are required to confirm if receivers use such information.

The cessation of contact calls does not provoke or modulate alarm behaviour in a social passerine

Behaviour ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Estelle Meaux ◽  
Chao He ◽  
Luying Qin ◽  
Eben Goodale
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Alarm Call ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Playback Experiments ◽  
Contact Call ◽  
Alarm Calling ◽  
Alarm Behaviour ◽  
Contact Calls ◽  
Crucial Information

Abstract Vocalizations that signal predation risk such as alarm calls provide crucial information for the survival of group-living individuals. However, alarm calling may attract the predator’s attention and, to avoid this cost, animals can opt for alternative strategies to indicate danger, such as ‘adaptive silence’, which is the cessation of vocalizations. We investigate here whether abrupt contact call cessation would provoke alarm responses, or would reinforce the signal given by an alarm call. In an aviary setting, we conducted playback experiments with a group-living passerine, the Swinhoe’s white-eye, Zosterops simplex. We found that birds did not respond to a sudden call cessation, nor did they have a stronger response to alarm calls followed by silence than to alarm calls followed by contact calls. Confirming previous work investigating contact call rate, it appears that in this species contact calls encode information about social factors but not environmental conditions.

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