Social learning about predators: a review and prospectus

Abstract

In comparison with social learning about food, social learning about predators has received little attention. Yet such research is of potential interest to students of animal cognition and conservation biologists. I summarize evidence for social learning about predators by fish, birds, eutherian mammals, and marsupials. I consider the proposal that this phenomenon is a case of S-S classical conditioning and suggest that evolution may have modified some of the properties of learning to accommodate for the requirements of learning socially about danger. I discuss some between-species differences in the properties of socially acquired predator avoidance and suggest that learning may be faster and more robust in species in which alarm behavior reliably predicts high predatory threat. Finally, I highlight how studies of socially acquired predator avoidance can inform the design of prerelease antipredator training programs for endangered species.

Social learning of a brood parasite by its host

“…Thus, naive individuals pay a significant cost for failing to recognize and defend against brood parasites. Finally, social learning should occur rapidly if it is to provide an advantage over personal learning [18]. This was the case in our study; a single observation by a naive individual of an attack on a cuckoo by their group was sufficient for social learning to occur.…”

Social learning in birds and its role in shaping a foraging niche

“…Alarm calls are considered to be quite stereotypic. Social learning may be involved in responding to such calls [13,15], but not necessarily in producing them [16], although great tits seem to learn from foster parents of another species (blue tits) in the wild [17].…”

“…Social learning has a role in the recognition of predators [12,13] and brood parasites [14]; conservation strategies for endangered species attempt to teach inexperienced birds [13]. Alarm calls are considered to be quite stereotypic.…”

Animal cognition in a human-dominated world

“…Here, Ducatez et al (2016) extend this body of work by undertaking a comparative analysis of several avian species on the Caribbean island of Barbados and showing that urban birds are overall bolder, less responsive to human disturbance and have shorter flight distances than their less urbanized conspecifics. Given the taxonomic prevalence of the capacity to learn in the context of predation (Griffin 2004;Lönnstedt et al 2012), such differences might be acquired as a consequence of experience (Brown et al 2013) (but see Carrete and Tella 2011;Sol et al 2013 for other possible explanations). As suggested in a novel contribution by Bílá et al (2016) the capacities to learn about novel predators and to respond to the alarm calls of other species through generalization or learning (Shriner 1999) might well assist animals in dealing with novel threats they encounter in urban areas.…”