Alarm calls of tufted titmice convey information about predator size and threat

Courter, Jason R.; Ritchison, Gary

doi:10.1093/beheco/arq086

Cited by 112 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

100

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Parids (chickadees and tits) produce structurally complex vocalizations (''chicka'' or ''chick-a-dee'' calls) that are composed of different types of notes (e.g., A, B, C, and D notes) (Hailman et al 1985;Lucas and Freeberg 2007;Freeberg and Lucas 2012). They use these calls in a range of contexts such as finding food sources (Mahurin and Freeberg 2009;Suzuki 2012b), approaching and mobbing a predator (Templeton et al 2005;Soard and Ritchison 2009;Courter and Ritchison 2010;Suzuki 2014), and maintaining social cohesion with conspecifics (Nowicki 1983).…”

Section: Examples From Birdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Semantic communication in birds: evidence from field research over the past two decades

Suzuki

2016

Ecological Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

What do animal signals mean? This is a central question in studies on animal communication.Research into the semantics of animal signals began in 1980, with evidence that alarm calls of a non-human primate designated predators as external referents. These studies have challenged the historical assumption that such referential signaling is a unique feature of human language and produced a paradigm shift in animal communication research. Over the past two decades, an increasing number of field studies have revealed similar complexity in anti-predator communication of birds. The acoustic structures of avian alarm calls show a high degree of variation in pitch, duration, shape, and repetition rate. In addition to such distinct and graded variations, several birds combine discrete types of notes or calls into higher complex sequences. These variations in alarm calls are typically associated with the predator's attributes, such as predator type and distance, and receivers respond to them with appropriate anti-predator behaviors. Although alarm calls of several bird species, as well as those of monkeys, appear to denote predator attributes, almost nothing is known about the cognitive processes that underlie the production and perception of these signals. In this review, I explore the existing evidence for referential signaling in birds and highlight the importance of the cognitive approach to animal communication research. I hope this review will promote further investigations of alarm-calling behavior in birds and will help enhance our understanding of the ecology and evolution of semantic communication.

show abstract

Section: Examples From Birdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Semantic communication in birds: evidence from field research over the past two decades

Suzuki

2016

Ecological Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In some species, natural selection has favoured the evolution of acoustically distinct alarm calls with call variants related to the type of predator, the degree of threat or the appropriate anti-predator behaviour. Evidence is not restricted to primates but also includes a range of other taxa, including birds [5][6][7], non-primate mammals ( prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) [8], suricates [9]) and non-human primates (lemurs (Lemur catta) [10], Old World monkeys (Cercopithecoidae) [11 -14], New World monkeys (Platyrrhini) [15][16][17][18], apes (Hominoidea) [19]). Although these findings have been interpreted in terms of potential parallels to human language, animal alarm call systems usually lack flexibility, arbitrariness in acoustic structure and generativity, indicating profound differences between animal communication and human language [20 -22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suffixation influences receivers' behaviour in non-human primates

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Compared to humans, non-human primates have very little control over their vocal production. Nonetheless, some primates produce various call combinations, which may partially offset their lack of acoustic flexibility. A relevant example is male Campbell's monkeys (Cercopithecus campbelli), which give one call type ('Krak') to leopards, while the suffixed version of the same call stem ('Krak-oo') is given to unspecific danger. To test whether recipients attend to this suffixation pattern, we carried out a playback experiment in which we broadcast naturally and artificially modified suffixed and unsuffixed 'Krak' calls of male Campbell's monkeys to 42 wild groups of Diana monkeys (Cercopithecus diana diana). The two species form mixed-species groups and respond to each other's vocalizations. We analysed the vocal response of male and female Diana monkeys and overall found significantly stronger vocal responses to unsuffixed (leopard) than suffixed (unspecific danger) calls. Although the acoustic structure of the 'Krak' stem of the calls has some additional effects, subject responses were mainly determined by the presence or the absence of the suffix. This study indicates that suffixation is an evolved function in primate communication in contexts where adaptive responses are particularly important.

show abstract

“…Following Langham et al (2006), this parid call system seems highly conserved and even works in allopatric taxa of the Paridae. In detail, the number of D notes of black-capped chickadee calls are a pattern that encodes threat (Templeton et al 2005), and is a graded signal that informs conspecifics about the presence of a predator in Carolina chickadees (Soard and Ritchison 2009;Bartmess-LeVasseur et al 2010) and tufted titmice Baeolophus bicolor (Courter and Ritchison 2010). There was a strong inverse relationship between the number of D notes per alarm call and the wingspan of raptors and predator body length, with the smallest predators eliciting calls with the most D notes (Templeton et al 2005;Courter and Ritchison 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In detail, the number of D notes of black-capped chickadee calls are a pattern that encodes threat (Templeton et al 2005), and is a graded signal that informs conspecifics about the presence of a predator in Carolina chickadees (Soard and Ritchison 2009;Bartmess-LeVasseur et al 2010) and tufted titmice Baeolophus bicolor (Courter and Ritchison 2010). There was a strong inverse relationship between the number of D notes per alarm call and the wingspan of raptors and predator body length, with the smallest predators eliciting calls with the most D notes (Templeton et al 2005;Courter and Ritchison 2010). These mobbing calls of black-capped chickadees attract both, con-and heterospecific sympatric species (Hurd 1996;Turcotte and Desrochers 2002;Templeton and Greene 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A possible phylogenetically conserved urgency response of great tits (Parus major) towards allopatric mobbing calls

Randler

2012

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Black-capped chickadees Poecile atricapillus alter the number of D notes of their chick-a-dee call to reflect urgency and threat. Here, I tested whether heterospecific responses of an allopatric species to these mobbing calls occur. Heterospecific chickadee mobbing calls and songs from North America were broadcast to European great tits (Parus major) and compared with conspecific mobbing calls. During conspecific mobbing playbacks, all great tits approached the speaker, during the heterospecific "chick-a-dee" playbacks, 63.3% individuals approached the speaker, while during the song playback, only 31.3% of the great tits approached the speaker. Minimum distances of great tits were lower during conspecific mobbing calls compared to allopatric chick-a-dee calls and to allopatric chickadee song. Also, minimum distances were lower when comparing allopatric chick-a-dee calls and chickadee song. Great tits approached the speaker on average down to (mean ± SE) 20.0±1.8 m during playbacks of 1-4 D elements, to 17.7 ± 2.0 m during playbacks of 5-7 D elements and down to 11.5±2.0 m during playbacks of 8-11 D elements. The number of D notes was inversely related to minimum distance. Thus, the urgency message encoded in the D notes was perceived also by an allopatric but phylogenetically related European species, suggesting that the heterospecific response is possibly phylogenetically conserved.

show abstract

Alarm calls of tufted titmice convey information about predator size and threat

Cited by 112 publications

References 42 publications

Semantic communication in birds: evidence from field research over the past two decades

Semantic communication in birds: evidence from field research over the past two decades

Suffixation influences receivers' behaviour in non-human primates

A possible phylogenetically conserved urgency response of great tits (Parus major) towards allopatric mobbing calls

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About