Mobbing in animals: A thorough review and proposed future directions

Carlson, Nora V.; Griesser, Michael

doi:10.1016/bs.asb.2022.01.003

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 186 publications

(271 reference statements)

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“…Previous experiments in the region have shown a mobbing response from a large number of species, including the coal and the crested tits (Dutour et al 2016, Dutour et al 2017b). When mobbing occurs, birds approach the predator cue and produce calls often with specific aggressive postures (e.g., wing flicks and frequent hops), but direct attack is rare (Carlson & Griesser, 2022).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acoustic cues and season affect mobbing responses in a bird community

Salis

Lena

Lengagne

2022

Preprint

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Heterospecific communication is common for birds when mobbing a predator. However, joining the mob should depend on the number of callers already enrolled, as larger mobs imply lower individual risks for the newcomer. In addition, some community informant species seem more reliable regarding the information transferred in mobbing calls. Birds should therefore rely on both the number of callers and the species identity of the caller(s) when mobbing. Given the large differences in social organization and environment throughout the year in passerine communities, the response to acoustic cues could be impacted by the season. In the present study, we tested the potential interaction between the number of callers, the species identity of the caller (i.e., coal tit or crested tit), and the season on birds mobbing response using a factorial playback experiment. Overall, we found that soundtracks with three callers triggered more mobbing than soundtracks with one caller and that soundtracks with coal tits calls triggered more mobbing than soundtracks with crested tits calls. However, this effect interacted with the season: in spring, only soundtracks with three coal tits triggered a mobbing response. We therefore confirm the hypothesis that birds consider both the species and the number of callers when joining a mobbing chorus. Moreover, our study demonstrates how seasonal context interacts with acoustic cues and illustrates the dynamic properties of heterospecific communication.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acoustic cues and season affect mobbing responses in a bird community

Salis

Lena

Lengagne

2022

Preprint

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“…For example, while predator–prey relationships are not included in any definition of MSGs, external threats from predators heavily influence MSG dynamics [33,54,55]. Many heterospecific associations may be driven in part by increased predation pressure [32,56,57], while some mixed-species behaviours are likely entirely a result of predator presence [58]. In addition, within MSGs, parasitic and exploitative relationships can occur and impose internal costs of predation.…”

Section: Mixed-species Groups Are Useful In Studying Dominance Becaus...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixed-species groups and the question of dominance in the social ecosystem

Coppinger

Carlson

Freeberg

et al. 2023

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Dominance interactions and hierarchies are of long-standing interest in the field of animal behaviour. Currently, dominance hierarchies are viewed as complex social structures formed by repeated interactions between individuals. Most studies on this phenomenon come from single-species groups. However, animals are constantly surrounded by and interact with individuals of other species. Behaviour and social interactions of individuals can be shaped by the presence or behaviour of other species in their social ecosystem, which has important implications for social behaviour in groups. Given how ubiquitous mixed-species animal groups are, deeper study of the relationships between mixed-species group (MSG) structure and dominance will be key to understanding constraints on individual behaviour and decision making. Here we call for more research into dominance interactions among individuals in MSGs. Greater understanding of the dynamics of dominance relationships among individuals in MSGs, whose size and composition can change considerably over shorter and longer term time frames, will be crucial to understanding their structure and functioning. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Mixed-species groups and aggregations: shaping ecological and behavioural patterns and processes’.

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“…The particularities of this behavior (i.e. conspicuous behavior that can be triggered with acoustic cues) facilitated the development of playback experiments on a large number of bird species (Carlson and Griesser 2022), hence identifying varied ways of coding information in mobbing call sequences. Indeed, several species can encode information in their mobbing call sequences (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobbing calls of seven species of Parids under the paradigm of the FME-D combination

Salis,

Lengagne,

Miele

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The combinatorial properties of birds’ mobbing calls provide a focus for understanding signal evolution in the higher vertebrates. Indeed, when mobbing a predator, several Parids produce a combinatorial call: first, frequency-modulated elements (FME) followed by broadband frequency notes (D notes). No quantitative data is present in the literature to confirm the ubiquity of this combinatorial call in Parids’ mobbing calls. In the present study, we recorded sequences of seven species and analyzed whether (1) the dichotomy between FME and D notes stands for all species despite the large variation in acoustic properties found between species, and (2) whether the FME-D call is pervasive in mobbing situations. FME and D notes were efficiently labelled and clustered in each species because of their large differences in peak frequency and bandwidth. Modulation and duration, in contrast, were not useful for all species. With the help of a machine learning program, we analyzed the organization of the calls produced by the seven species. Six of them used FME-D calls more than chance but the coal tit P. ater rarely produced FME-D calls. No other particular call combination was predominant in all of the seven species (e.g. D-FME calls). These results pave the way for comparative research on combinatoriality in Parids to better understand to which extent birds process combinatorial rules.

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Mobbing in animals: A thorough review and proposed future directions

Cited by 14 publications

References 186 publications

Acoustic cues and season affect mobbing responses in a bird community

Acoustic cues and season affect mobbing responses in a bird community

Mixed-species groups and the question of dominance in the social ecosystem

Mobbing calls of seven species of Parids under the paradigm of the FME-D combination

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