Function of note strings in Japanese Tit alarm calls to the Common Cuckoo: a playback experiment
| Autor: | Hongwei Xu, Yangyang Yu, Jiangping Yu, Weiwei Lv, Yunlei Jiang, Haitao Wang, Wei Liang, Nehafta Bibi |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine Playback Alarm signal 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Cuculus Sparrowhawk Common cuckoo 03 medical and health sciences ALARM lcsh:Zoology Male Japanese Tit lcsh:QL1-991 Function Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Brood parasite Parus Communication Note strings biology business.industry Japanese tit biology.organism_classification 030104 developmental biology Brood parasitism Animal Science and Zoology business Alarm call |
| Zdroj: | Avian Research, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-6 (2017) |
| ISSN: | 2053-7166 |
| Popis: | Background Birds produce alarm calls to convey information about threats. Some Passerine alarm calls consist of several note strings, but few studies have examined their function. Previous studies have shown that Japanese Tits (Parus minor) can alter the calling rate and number and combination of notes in response to predators. We previously found the combinations of note types in Japanese Tit alarm calls to be significantly different in response to the Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). Methods Through playback experiments, we tested whether the note strings in Japanese Tit alarm calls to the Common Cuckoo have different functions in conveying information. The note strings of selected alarm calls were divided into the categories of C and D, and different calls were then constructed separately based on the two note string categories. Original alarm calls (C–D), C calls and D calls were played back to male Japanese Tits during the incubation period. Results Male Japanese Tits had a significantly stronger response to C calls than to C–D calls, and they showed a significantly stronger response to both C and C–D calls than to D calls, suggesting that Japanese Tits discriminated between the C and D calls. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that the C- and D-category note strings of Japanese Tit alarm calls to the Common Cuckoo have different functions, which supports the previous finding that different note strings in an alarm call can provide different information to receivers. However, the exact meanings of these note strings are not yet known, and further investigation is therefore required. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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