The development of alarm call behaviour in mammals and birds

Hollén, Linda; Radford, Andrew N.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.07.021

Cited by 172 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 115 publications

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“…However, when the juveniles were scolding on their own, they never attracted other birds to join them and mob. Strength of response depends on age in a variety of animals [47,[53][54][55]. In corvids, mobbing Florida scrub-jay fledglings were often ignored by adults that could not see the predator [53].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Direct individual experience with a dangerous human enabled more precise learning by crows, but through observation of trapping and observing or joining others in mobs scolding the dangerous person [46], individuals also learned to accurately identify dangerous people. Few studies have demonstrated the combined influence of individual and social learning on alarm calling [47].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social learning spreads knowledge about dangerous humans among American crows

2011

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Individuals face evolutionary trade-offs between the acquisition of costly but accurate information gained firsthand and the use of inexpensive but possibly less reliable social information. American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) use both sources of information to learn the facial features of a dangerous person. We exposed wild crows to a novel 'dangerous face' by wearing a unique mask as we trapped, banded and released 7 -15 birds at five study sites near Seattle, WA, USA. An immediate scolding response to the dangerous mask after trapping by previously captured crows demonstrates individual learning, while an immediate response by crows that were not captured probably represents conditioning to the trapping scene by the mob of birds that assembled during the capture. Later recognition of dangerous masks by lone crows that were never captured is consistent with horizontal social learning. Independent scolding by young crows, whose parents had conditioned them to scold the dangerous mask, demonstrates vertical social learning. Crows that directly experienced trapping later discriminated among dangerous and neutral masks more precisely than did crows that learned through social means. Learning enabled scolding to double in frequency and spread at least 1.2 km from the place of origin over a 5 year period at one site.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social learning spreads knowledge about dangerous humans among American crows

2011

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“…Alarm calling, the production of particular vocalisations to warn others of danger, is a key anti-predator strategy in many species (Klump and Shalter, 1984;Hollén and Radford, 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic noise alters dwarf mongoose responses to heterospecific alarm calls

Morris-Drake

Bracken

Kern

et al. 2017

Environmental Pollution

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General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. (0) 960028260, no fax number Statement of authorshipAll authors contributed to the conception and design of the study; AM and AB collected the data; AM and AB analysed the data with advice from JMK and ANR; ANR and AM wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and all authors contributed significantly to revisions. 2Anthropogenic noise is an evolutionarily novel and widespread pollutant in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Despite increasing evidence that the additional noise generated by human activities can affect vocal communication, the majority of research has focused on the use of conspecific acoustic information, especially sexual signals.Many animals are known to eavesdrop on the alarm calls produced by other species, enhancing their likelihood of avoiding predation, but how this use of heterospecific information is affected by anthropogenic noise has received little empirical attention.Here, we use two field-based playback experiments on a habituated wild population of dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula) to determine how anthropogenic noise influences the response of foragers to heterospecific alarm calls. We begin by demonstrating that dwarf mongooses respond appropriately to the alarm calls of sympatric chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) and tree squirrels (Paraxerus cepapi); fleeing only to the latter.We then show that mongoose foragers are less likely to exhibit this flee response to tree squirrel alarm calls during road-noise playback compared to ambient-sound playback.One explanation for the change in response is that noise-induced distraction or stress result in maladaptive behaviour. However, further analysis revealed that road-noise playback results in increased vigilance and that mongooses showing the greatest vigilance increase are those that do not subsequently exhibit a flee response to the alarm call. These individuals may therefore be acting appropriately: if the greater gathering of personal information indicates the absence of an actual predator despite an alarm call, the need to undertake costly fleeing behaviour can be avoided. Either way, our study indicates the potential for anthropogenic noise to interfere with the use of acoustic information from other species, and suggests the importance of considering how heterospecific networks are affected by this global pollutant.Capsule: Anthropogenic noise reduces the likelihood of fleeing to a heterospecific alarm call.3

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“…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].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Slagsvold

Wiebe

2011

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

147

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We briefly review the literature on social learning in birds, concluding that strong evidence exists mainly for predator recognition, song, mate choice and foraging. The mechanism of local enhancement may be more important than imitation for birds learning to forage, but the former mechanism may be sufficient for faithful transmission depending on the ecological circumstances. To date, most insights have been gained from birds in captivity. We present a study of social learning of foraging in two passerine birds in the wild, where we cross-fostered eggs between nests of blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus and great tits, Parus major. Early learning causes a shift in the foraging sites used by the tits in the direction of the foster species. The shift in foraging niches was consistent across seasons, as showed by an analysis of prey items, and the effect lasted for life. The fact that young birds learn from their foster parents, and use this experience later when subsequently feeding their own offspring, suggests that foraging behaviour can be culturally transmitted over generations in the wild. It may therefore have both ecological and evolutionary consequences, some of which are discussed.

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The development of alarm call behaviour in mammals and birds

Cited by 172 publications

References 115 publications

Social learning spreads knowledge about dangerous humans among American crows

Social learning spreads knowledge about dangerous humans among American crows

Anthropogenic noise alters dwarf mongoose responses to heterospecific alarm calls

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

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