Repetition rate of calls used in multiple contexts communicates presence of predators to nestlings and adult birds
Section snippets
Call Recordings
During the breeding seasons from 2007 to 2014, I located nests of small songbirds at three field sites in close proximity in the Indian Himalayas (Manali Wildlife Sanctuary: 32°14′N, 77°9′E, between 3100 and 3600 m; 2007, 2008, 2010; Mooling Forest near Keylong: 32°30′N, 76°58′E, 3400–3600 m; 2009, 2010; Jagatsukh Forest: 32°11′N, 77°12′E, 2200–2500 m; 2011), Mt Fuji in Japan (35° 22′N, 138° 45′E, 2000–2200 m; 2011) and on the Swedish island of Öland (57°10′N, 16°56′E, at sea level; 2013, 2014). In
Calls Produced in Predator and Nonpredator Contexts
Birds from each species produced calls that were highly similar in both predator and nonpredator contexts (Fig. 1, Appendix Table A1). For each acoustic measurement, only a small fraction of the variance in calls was explained by differences across contexts (call length: 5.8%; ANOVA: F1,28 = 0.058, P = 0.81; high frequency: 2.9%; F1,28 = 0.097, P = 0.77; low frequency: 3.9%; F1,28 = 0.097, P = 0.54). Within-species mean values for each measurement were similar (reconstructed ancestor node value for
Discussion
Songbirds from seven families produced acoustically similar calls both when confronting predators and during other types of social interactions. However, the same species repeated the calls at faster rates during predator interactions than in nonpredator contexts. I suggest that birds use the same, variable use calls in multiple contexts, because they have similar functions in alerting surrounding birds, whether conspecifics, heterospecifics or predators themselves. I argue that, while
Acknowledgments
I thank T. Price for contributing ideas, advice and assistance while designing, conducting and analysing experiments and while writing the manuscript and A. Qvarnström for help conducting the experiments in Sweden. I thank T. Suzuki, T. Haff, and three anonymous referees for valuable comments and suggestions on the manuscript. This work was supported by a Frank M. Chapman Memorial Fund (www.amnh.org), an NSF EAPSI Fellowship (www.nsf.gov), and an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology (//www.nsf.gov
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