Mobbing behaviour varies according to predator dangerousness and occurrence

2016 ◽  
Vol 119 ◽  
pp. 119-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mylène Dutour ◽  
Jean-Paul Lena ◽  
Thierry Lengagne
Keyword(s):  
Mobbing Behaviour

Mobbing behaviour: reciprocity-based co-operation in breeding Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca

Ibis ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 148 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
INDRIKIS KRAMS ◽  
TATJANA KRAMA ◽  
KRISTINE IGAUNE
Keyword(s):  
Ficedula Hypoleuca ◽  
Mobbing Behaviour

scholarly journals Is it safe to nest near bold neighbours? Spatial patterns in predation risk associated with the density of American Golden-Plover nest

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Andrée Giroux ◽  
Myriam Trottier-Paquet ◽  
Joël Bêty ◽  
Vincent Lamarre ◽  
Nicolas Lecomte
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Species Of Conservation Concern ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Conservation Concern ◽  
Golden Plover ◽  
Mobbing Behaviour

Predation is one of the main factors explaining nesting mortality in most bird species. Birds can avoid nest predation or reduce predation pressure by breeding at higher latitude, showing anti-predator behaviour, and nesting in association with protective species. Plovers actively defend their territory by displaying early warning and aggressive/mobbing behaviour, potentially benefiting the neighbouring nests by decreasing their predation risk. To test for the existence of such a protective effect, we studied the influence of proximity to plover nests on predation risk of artificial nests on Igloolik Island (Nunavut, Canada) in July 2014. We predicted that the predation risk of artificial nests increases and decreases with the distance to and the density of plover nests, respectively. We monitored 18 plover nests and set 35 artificial nests at 30, 50, 100, 200 and 500 m from seven of those plover nests. Surprisingly, we showed that predation risk of artificial nests increases with the density of active plover nests. We also found a significant negative effect of the distance to the nearest active protector nest on predation risk of artificial nests. Understanding how the composition and structure of shorebird communities generate spatial patterns in predation risks represent a key step to better understand the importance of these species of conservation concern in tundra food webs.

scholarly journals Responsiveness to conspecific distress calls is influenced by day-roost proximity in bats ( Saccopteryx bilineata )

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 160151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Eckenweber ◽  
Mirjam Knörnschild
Keyword(s):  
Group Composition ◽  
Playback Experiments ◽  
Distress Call ◽  
Social Relevance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Saccopteryx Bilineata ◽  
Distress Calls ◽  
Foraging Site ◽  
Physical Distress ◽  
Mobbing Behaviour

Distress calls signal extreme physical distress, e.g. being caught by a predator. In many bat species, distress calls attract conspecifics. Because bats often occupy perennial day-roosts, they might adapt their responsiveness according to the social relevance in which distress calls are broadcast. Specifically, we hypothesized that conspecific distress calls broadcast within or in proximity to the day-roost would elicit a stronger responsiveness than distress calls broadcast at a foraging site. We analysed the distress calls and conducted playback experiments with the greater sac-winged bat, Saccopteryx bilineata , which occupies perennial day-roosts with a stable social group composition. S. bilineata reacted significantly differently depending on the playback's location. Bats were attracted to distress call playbacks within the day-roost and in proximity to it, but showed no obvious response to distress call playbacks at a foraging site. Hence, the bats adapted their responsiveness towards distress calls depending on the social relevance in which distress calls were broadcast. Distress calls within or in proximity to the day-roost are probably perceived as a greater threat and thus have a higher behavioural relevance than distress calls at foraging sites, either because bats want to assess the predation risk or because they engage in mobbing behaviour.

Mobbing Behaviour, Nest Exposure, and Breeding Success in the American Robin

Behaviour ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 96 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 171-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian G. Mclean ◽  
K. Glenna Stewart ◽  
James N.M. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Potential Cost ◽  
American Robin ◽  
Experimental Procedure ◽  
American Robins ◽  
Northwestern Crow ◽  
Extreme Responses ◽  
Mobbing Behaviour

AbstractWe tested some costs and benefits associated with variable levels of mobbing response towards nest predators by American robins. Playbacks of robin mobbing calls attracted a major predator of robin nests, the northwestern crow. This demonstrates a potential cost to robins that give mobbing calls. We then used human 'predators' to test whether reproductive success was related to mobbing intensity. We first showed that mobbing responses to humans resembled those shown to a stuffed crow. Second, we demonstrated that responses of pairs of robins were consistent at different tests at the same nest, but were less consistent between different nesting attempts of the same pair. The first result validates our experimental procedure, but the second result suggests that variation in mobbing response is partly determined by characteristics of the nest or nest site, rather than by the level of aggressiveness of the parents. When we compared mobbing responses by robins at exposed and well-concealed nests, robins with exposed nests used extreme responses (swoops and hits) more frequently than those with concealed nests. We did not, however, find an consistent relationship between mobbing intensity, stage of the nestling cycle, or reproductive success. Robins did not respond more strongly late in the nesting cycle, and pairs that responded weakly, or strongly, experienced similar levels of nesting success.

Mobbing behaviour in a passerine community increases with prevalence in predator diet

Ibis ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 159 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mylene Dutour ◽  
Jean-Paul Lena ◽  
Thierry Lengagne
Keyword(s):  
Predator Diet ◽  
Mobbing Behaviour

scholarly journals Seasonal variation in mobbing behaviour of passerine birds

2019 ◽  
Vol 160 (2) ◽  
pp. 509-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mylène Dutour ◽  
Marion Cordonnier ◽  
Jean-Paul Léna ◽  
Thierry Lengagne
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Passerine Birds ◽  
Mobbing Behaviour

Observation of successful mobbing of an insectivorous bat, Taphozous nudiventris (Emballonuridae), on an avian predator, Tyto alba (Tytonidae)

Mammalia ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Radek K. Lučan ◽  
Martin Šálek
Keyword(s):  
Aggressive Behaviour ◽  
Tyto Alba ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Potential Predator ◽  
Avian Predator ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Distress Calls ◽  
Mobbing Behaviour

AbstractMobbing in animals is an aggressive behaviour performed cooperatively towards a potential predator. In bats, the existence of mobbing is based on both intra- and interspecific behavioural responses of freely flying individuals to distress calls emitted by live bats or playbacked by researchers. In this note, we describe the mobbing behaviour of free-living naked-bellied tomb bats

Factors governing the changes in strength of a partially inborn response, as shown by the mobbing behaviour of the chaffinch ( Fringilla coelehs ) II. The waning of the response

1954 ◽  
Vol 142 (908) ◽  
pp. 331-358 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Prolonged Exposure ◽  
The Other ◽  
Rapid Recovery ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Slow Recovery ◽  
Recovery Interval ◽  
Artificial Nature ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
Mobbing Behaviour

In part I a survey of the nature of the mobbing response made by chaffinches to stationary predators was given. The course of the response was also examined. The present paper is concerned with an investigation into the processes underlying the waning of the response. If the response is allowed to wane through the prolonged presentation of a predator, recovery takes place in two stages—a period of rapid recovery is followed by a period of very slow recovery. The effects of varying the lengths of the initial presentation and the recovery interval are examined. The waning of the response which occurs as a result of the prolonged presentation of one predator also involves a decreased responsiveness to other stimuli which evoke the same response. The waning of the response is thus at least partly due to a change which affects all mobbing responses, and is not specific to the stimulus. The recovery of responsiveness to a stoat after prolonged exposure to an owl takes the same form as the recovery of responsiveness to an owl. Individual variation occurs both in the responsiveness to predators in general, and in the susceptibility to particular predators. If a chaffinch is shown a predator on a number of fairly widely separated occasions (e.g. once per day), the response usually diminishes progressively. This long-term reduction in responsiveness may be referred to as * habituation ’. It occurs even when live owls are introduced into the aviary, and involves a general damping down of the response as a whole. In general, successive presentations of a predator, or of the model of a predator, may produce either an increased or decreased responsiveness on a later presentation; the actual effect depends on the precise circumstances. Habituation is more rapid with spaced trials than with massed ones. Habituation to one predator in one place involves some degree of habituation to the same predator in a different place and to a different predator in the same place. The latter effect was probably exaggerated in the experiments recorded here by the artificial nature of the circumstances. It is suggested that at least two different processes are involved in the waning of the response. One of these is specific to the response and subject to rapid recovery, while the other is specific to the stimulus and produces long-term effects.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document