Do great tits assess rivals by combining direct experience with information gathered by eavesdropping?

Abstract

Animals frequently use signals that travel further than the spacing between individuals. For every intended recipient of a given signal there are likely to be many other individuals that receive information. Eavesdropping on signalling interactions between other individuals provides a relatively cost-free method of assessing future opponents or mates. Male great tits (Parus major) extract relative information from such interactions between individuals unknown to them. Here, we show that male great tits can take information gathering a stage further and obtain more information about a previously unencountered intruder, by the hitherto unknown capability of combining information gathered by eavesdropping with that derived from their own direct interaction with an individual. Prior experience with an intruder (A) was achieved by subjecting a focal male to different levels of intrusion simulated using interactive playback. This intruder (A) then took part in a simulated interaction with an unknown male (B) outside the territorial boundary of the focal males. In response to subsequent intrusion by the second male (B), focal males showed low song output in response to males that had lost to a male that the subject was able to beat. Males of known high quality, or those about which information was ambiguous, elicited a high level of song output by focal males. We discuss the implications of this finding for the evolution of communication and social behaviour.

Nest fidelity is driven by multi-scale information in a long-lived seabird

“…Because the factors acting on BS vary at different spatial and temporal scales corresponding to different levels of habitat selection [2], individuals should rely on these various scales to assess site quality. However, although recent works have revealed that combinations of information from several sources can be used by animals in other contexts [38], only a few studies have reported such processes in the context of breeding site selection.…”

Triadic awareness predicts partner choice in male–infant–male interactions in Barbary macaques

“…The capacity to recognize who outranks whom, who is closely bonded with whom, who is likely to support whom or intervene against whom, and to adjust one's behaviour accordingly has been documented in apes (e.g. Tomasello and Call 1997;De Waal 2007), Old World (Cheney et al 1986;Cheney and Seyfarth 1999), New World monkeys (Perry et al 2004; but see also Ferreira et al 2006), other mammals (Engh et al 2005;Connor 2007;Johnson 2010) and in birds (Peake et al 2002;Seed et al 2007). …”

The central importance of information in studies of animal communication

“…Songbirds also learn about the competitive abilities of potential intruders by listening to their singing bouts with the territory holders' neighbours (Peake et al 2002). Such 'eavesdropping' is widespread among animals (McGregor 2005).…”

“…Such 'eavesdropping' is widespread among animals (McGregor 2005). When a bird or primate responds differently depending upon whether it has heard A dominate B or B dominate A (Peake et al 2002;Bergman et al 2003), its response depends not just on the calls' acoustic properties but also on the relationship between callers. As McGregor & Dabelsteen (1996, page 416) put it, the eavesdropper 'gains information from an interaction that could not be gained from a signal alone'.…”