Context-specific alarm calls of the eastern chipmunk, Tamias striatus

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 1087-1092 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Burke da Silva ◽  
Donald L. Kramer ◽  
Daniel M. Weary
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Alarm Call ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Field Site ◽  
Tamias Striatus ◽  
Avian Predators ◽  
Repeated Calls ◽  
Lower Amplitude ◽  
Mammalian Predators ◽  
Context Specific

The structure and context of alarm calls produced by chipmunks (Tamias striatus) at a field site in southern Quebec were recorded during opportunistic field observations and experimentally simulated hawk attacks. Chipmunks produced three call types in the presence of predators. Chipping consisted of a series of high frequency notes with a rapid downward frequency slope (9.6 to 2.8 kHz) and was given in the presence of mammalian predators by chipmunks perched on a raised vantage point. Chucking consisted of a series of lower frequency notes also sloping downwards (2.5 to 0.4 kHz), given in the presence of avian predators by perched animals. The trill was a lower amplitude, multi-note call usually given only once by animals before reaching a refuge while fleeing from either type of predator. The average trill contained 6–11 downward sloping notes (7.3 to 0.8 kHz). The alarm call types of eastern chipmunks appear to be similar to those reported for western chipmunks. However, they differ in the clear separation of the calls for aerial and terrestrial predators. Chipmunks differ from most other terrestrial sciurids in giving repeated calls for aerial as well as terrestrial predators and in using a call just before reaching a secure refuge.

scholarly journals Female putty-nosed monkeys ( Cercopithecus nictitans ) vocally recruit males for predator defence

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederic Gnepa Mehon ◽  
Claudia Stephan
Keyword(s):  
Alarm Call ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Context Specificity ◽  
Sexual Dimorphisms ◽  
Alarm Calling ◽  
Cost Benefit Ratio ◽  
Female Behaviour ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Predator Defence

Alarm calls can trigger very different behavioural changes in receivers and signallers might apply different alarm call strategies based on their individual cost-benefit ratio. These cost-benefit ratios can also vary as a function of sex. For instance, male but not female forest guenons possess loud alarms that serve warning and predator deterrence functions, but also intergroup spacing and male–male competition. In some forest guenons, the context specificity and alarm call repertoire size additionally differs between females and males but it remains unclear if this corresponds to similar sexual dimorphisms in alarm calling strategies. We here experimentally investigated whether general female and more context-specific male alarm calls in putty-nosed monkeys ( Cercopithecus nictitans ) had different effects on the opposite sex's behaviour and whether they might serve different female and male alarm calling strategies. We presented a leopard model separately to the females or to the male of several groups while ensuring that the opposite sex only heard alarm calls of target individuals. While female alarms led to the recruitment of males in the majority of cases, male alarms did not have a similar effect on female behaviour. Males further seem to vocally advertise their engagement in group defence with more unspecific alarms while approaching their group. Males switched alarm call types once they spotted the leopard model and started mobbing behaviour. Females only ceased to alarm call when males produced calls typically associated with anti-predator defence, but not when males produced unspecific alarm calls. Our results suggest that sexual dimorphisms in the context specificity of alarms most likely correspond to different alarm calling strategies in female and male putty-nosed monkeys.

Dynamic changes in alarm call structure: a strategy for reducing conspicuousness to avian predators?

Behaviour ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 140 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Evans ◽  
Karen Bayly
Keyword(s):  
Broad Band ◽  
Alarm Call ◽  
High Amplitude ◽  
Dominant Frequency ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Potential Predator ◽  
Call Structure ◽  
Avian Predators ◽  
Signal Efficacy

AbstractThe design of many animal signals reflects the need to maximize signal efficacy while minimizing conspicuousness to eavesdroppers. The aerial alarm calls of birds have been a useful model system for exploring such evolutionary tradeoffs at the level of general call structure, but much less is known about changes in fine-scale signal characteristics over the course of an encounter with a potential predator. We analyzed variation in the alarm calls that male fowl, Gallus gallus, produced in response to raptor silhouettes moving overhead. Spectrogram cross-correlation was used to test for changes in structure over the course of a call bout. This analysis revealed that aerial alarm calls are individually distinctive and that they vary significantly from the first call to the second. We then measured single acoustic parameters, including the duration, dominant frequency and frequency bandwidth of each component in successive calls. Males almost invariably began the first call in a bout with a high amplitude broad-band pulse, which was followed by a much longer and highly variable sustained element. They then selectively reduced or eliminated the introductory pulse, while leaving other aspects of alarm structure unchanged. Recent work has shown that the introductory pulse is potentially costly because it has attributes that are readily localized by raptors. We suggest that male fowl have adaptive plasticity in alarm call structure, allowing them to manage short-term predation risk while continuing to signal to companions.

scholarly journals Predation increases acoustic complexity in primate alarm calls

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 641-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Stephan ◽  
Klaus Zuberbühler
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Adult Male ◽  
Ivory Coast ◽  
Alarm Call ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Acoustic Structure ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Alarm Calling ◽  
Calling Behaviour ◽  
Context Specific

According to most accounts, alarm calling in non-human primates is a biologically hardwired behaviour with signallers having little control over the acoustic structure of their calls. In this study, we compared the alarm calling behaviour of two adjacent populations of Diana monkeys at Taï forest (Ivory Coast) and Tiwai Island (Sierra Leone), which differ significantly in predation pressure. At Taï, monkeys regularly interact with two major predators, crowned eagles and leopards, while at Tiwai, monkeys are only hunted by crowned eagles. We monitored the alarm call responses of adult male Diana monkeys to acoustic predator models. We found no site-specific differences in the types of calls given to eagles, leopards and general disturbances, but there were consistent differences in how callers assembled calls into sequences. At Tiwai, males responded to leopards and general disturbances in the same way, while at Taï, males discriminated by giving call sequences that differed in the number of component calls. Responses to eagles were identical at both sites. We concluded that Diana monkeys are predisposed to use their repertoire in context-specific ways, but that ontogenetic experience determines how individual calls are assembled into meaningful sequences.

scholarly journals Heterospecific alarm-call recognition in two warbler hosts of common cuckoos

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1149-1157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiangping Yu ◽  
Hailin Lu ◽  
Wei Sun ◽  
Wei Liang ◽  
Haitao Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alarm Call ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Reed Warbler ◽  
Cuculus Canorus ◽  
Common Cuckoo ◽  
Playback Experiments ◽  
Call Recognition ◽  
Accipiter Nisus ◽  
Main Host ◽  
The Common

Abstract Species facing similar selection pressures should recognize heterospecific alarm signals. However, no study has so far examined heterospecific alarm-call recognition in response to parasitism by cuckoos. In this study, we tested whether two sympatric host species of the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus, Oriental reed warbler Acrocephalus orientalis (ORW, main host), and black-browed reed warbler Acrocephalus bistrigiceps (BRW, rare host), could recognize each other’s alarm calls in response to cuckoos. Dummies of common cuckoo (parasite) and Eurasian sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus (predator) were used to induce and record alarm calls of the two warbler species, respectively. In the conspecific alarm-call playback experiments, ORW responded more strongly to cuckoo alarm calls than to sparrowhawk alarm calls, while BRW responded less strongly to cuckoo alarm calls than to sparrowhawk alarm calls. In the heterospecific alarm-call playback experiments, both ORW and BRW responded less strongly to cuckoo alarm calls than sparrowhawk alarm calls. BRW seemed to learn the association between parasite-related alarm calls of the ORW and the cuckoo by observing the process of ORW attacking cuckoos. In contrast, alarm calls of BRW to cuckoos were rarely recorded in most cases. BRW with low parasite pressure still developed recognition of heterospecific parasite-related alarm call. Unintended receivers in the same community should recognize heterospecific alarm calls precisely to extract valuable information.

scholarly journals Specific responses of cuckoo hosts to different alarm signals according to breeding stage: a test of the offspring value hypothesis

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 649-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaojiao Wang ◽  
Canchao Yang
Keyword(s):  
Alarm Call ◽  
Host Responses ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Attack Behavior ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Reed Warbler ◽  
Defense Strategies ◽  
Breeding Stage ◽  
Accipiter Nisus ◽  
Streptopelia Orientalis

Abstract The selective pressure exerted by avian brood parasites forces their hosts to evolve specific defense strategies. When subject to brood parasite attack, avian hosts will often emit alarm calls. To date, few studies have examined whether and how host responses to different alarm calls indicative of different enemies vary with the host’s breeding stage. We carried out alarm call playback experiments during both the egg and nestling stages of the oriental reed warbler Acrocephalus orientalis, a host of the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus. The playback exemplars were selected from recorded alarm calls of the warbler to the presence of common cuckoos, sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus, and oriental turtle doves Streptopelia orientalis, which represented brood parasite, predator, and harmless control, respectively. The results showed that the oriental reed warblers did not discriminate alarm calls issued to different intruder types, but the intensity of the response was significantly higher in the nestling stage than in the egg stage. Attack behavior related to sparrowhawk alarm calls was absent in the egg stage, but aggressive behavior increased dramatically and exceeded the attack frequency in response to the cuckoo alarm call in the nestling stage, implying a shift in the tradeoff between the parents’ own survival and the loss of offspring. Alarm calls attracted a larger number of conspecifics than members of other species. In general, the oriental reed warbler had consistently stronger responses to different alarm calls in the nestling stage than in the egg stage, supporting the offspring value hypothesis.

Vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) alarm calls to leopards (Panthera pardus) function as a predator deterrent

Behaviour ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 153 (5) ◽  
pp. 591-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne A. Isbell ◽  
Laura R. Bidner
Keyword(s):  
Alarm Call ◽  
Vervet Monkey ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Gps Data ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Panthera Pardus ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Gps Collars ◽  
Chlorocebus Pygerythrus

Behavioural predator–prey interactions are difficult to study, especially when predators avoid humans. To gain greater understanding of their dynamism, we conducted a 14-month field study in which we minimized human presence by employing acoustic recorders and camera traps, along with GPS collars deployed on vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) and leopards (Panthera pardus) in Laikipia, Kenya. Recordings at the vervets’ sleeping site revealed that they gave ‘leopard’ alarm calls most frequently near dusk and dawn, whereas photographs showed that leopards approached vervets more closely at night, when the monkeys alarm-called less often. GPS data showed that after vervets alarm-called, leopards within 200 m quickly moved away, changing direction, but when vervets did not alarm-call, leopards continued moving forward. These results reveal that vervets’ leopard alarm calls function as a predator deterrent in addition to a conspecific warning call.

scholarly journals The song remains the same: Juvenile Richardson’s ground squirrels do not respond differentially to mother’s or colony member’s alarm calls

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 773-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
James F. Hare ◽  
Kurtis J. Warkentin
Keyword(s):  
Adult Female ◽  
Escape Behavior ◽  
Alarm Call ◽  
Ground Squirrels ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Digital Audio ◽  
Predator Detection ◽  
Postural Responses ◽  
Limited Opportunity ◽  
Predator Model

Abstract Alarm calls are emitted by Richardson’s ground squirrels Urocitellus richardsonii in response to avian and terrestrial predators. Conspecifics detecting these calls respond with increased vigilance, promoting predator detection and evasion, but in doing so, lose time from foraging. That loss can be minimized if alarm call recipients discriminate among signalers, and weight their response accordingly. For juvenile ground squirrels, we predicted that the trade-off between foraging and vigilance could be optimized via selective response to alarm calls emitted by their own dam, and/or neighboring colony members over calls broadcast by less familiar conspecifics. Alarm calls of adult female Richardson’s ground squirrels were elicited in the field using a predator model and recorded on digital audio tape. Free-living focal juveniles were subjected to playbacks of a call of their mother, and on a separate occasion a call from either another adult female from their own colony, or an adult female from another colony. Neither immediate postural responses and escape behavior, nor the duration of vigilance manifested by juveniles differed with exposure to alarm calls of the three adult female signaler types. Thus, juveniles did not respond preferentially to alarm calls emitted by their mothers or colony members, likely reflecting the high cost of ignoring alarm signals where receivers have had limited opportunity to establish past signaler reliability.

The evolution of functionally referential alarm communication

1999 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. Blumstein
Keyword(s):  
Alarm Call ◽  
Referential Communication ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Repertoire Size ◽  
Motor Abilities ◽  
Antipredator Responses ◽  
Tight Association ◽  
Functionally Referential ◽  
Alarm Communication ◽  
Call Repertoire

Many species produce specific alarm vocalizations when they encounter predators. There is considerable interest in the degree to which bird, ground-dwelling sciurid rodent, and primate alarm calls denote the species or type of predator that elicited the vocalization. When there is a tight association between the type or species of predator eliciting an alarm call, and when a played-back alarm call elicits antipredator responses qualitatively similar to those seen when individuals personally encounter a predator, the alarm calls are said to be functionally referential. In this essay I aim to make two simple points about the evolution of functionally referential alarm communication. Firstly, functionally referential communication is likely to be present only when a species produces acoustically distinct alarm vocalizations. Thus, to understand its evolution we must study factors that influence the evolution of alarm call repertoire size. Secondly, and potentially decoupled from the ability to produce acoustically distinctive alarm vocalizations, species must have the perceptual and motor abilities to respond differently to acoustically-distinct alarm vocalizations. Thus, to understand the evolution of functionally referential communication we also must study factors that influence the evolution of context-independent perception. While some factors may select for functionally referential alarm communication, constraints on production or perception may prevent its evolution.

Semantics of an Avian Alarm Call System: the Male Domestic Fowl, Gallus Domesticus

Behaviour ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 102 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 15-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Marler ◽  
Roberta Pickert ◽  
Marcel Gyger
Keyword(s):  
Good Predictor ◽  
Domestic Fowl ◽  
Stimulus Object ◽  
Angular Size ◽  
Alarm Call ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
General Function ◽  
Contingency Table Analysis ◽  
Predator Detection ◽  
Call Structure

AbstractVocal alarm signals of male domestic fowl given in the presence of predators and other ground and aerial objects were recorded and analyzed. Studies were conducted under semi-naturalistic conditions and a telemetric technique was used to facilitate high quality sound recording. Cockerels gave ground alarm calls specifically to objects moving on the substrate and aerial alarm calls to objects moving above in free space. Vocalizations were associated with both dangerous and harmless objects. We therefore investigated variation in sound structure of aerial alarm calls with reference to flying predators and non-predators. A multidimensional contingency table analysis revealed a significant tendency for qualitatively different aerial alarm calls to be associated with flying predators and non-predators. Differences in call structure were restricted to the two first units of the alarm call. We tested the hypotheses that variation in aerial alarm call structure might be affected by either the distance separating the bird from the object or the angular size of the object projected onto the retina of the cockerel. Statistical analysis showed that the angular size was a good predictor of variation of the second unit of alarm call. The distance it self was less predictive. The first unit of the alarm call was not affected by either the distance or the angular size of the object. We propose that this part of the call has a more general function of alerting the conspecific companions. We conclude that alarm vocalizations of male domestic fowl refer specifically to a certain type of stimulus object, either moving on the ground or flying. For alarm calls correlated with aerial stimuli the specific angular size of a stimulus object moving in the air is a good predictor of call structure. We suggest that this way of dealing with flying objects as stimuli for alarm calls is the result of a predator detection strategy in which the benefits of an expanded field of vision, an important adaptation for ground-dwelling birds, exceed the costs of alarming to harmless birds and other aerial objects.

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