Corvid predators may be attracted to parental alarm calls that trigger fledging of nestlings in Oriental Tits (Parus minor)

2021 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jungmoon Ha ◽  
Keesan Lee ◽  
Eunjeong Yang ◽  
Woojoo Kim ◽  
Ho-kyung Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Parus Minor

Experimental study of alarm calls of the oriental tit ( Parus minor ) toward different predators and reactions they induce in nestlings

Ethology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 126 (6) ◽  
pp. 610-619
Author(s):  
Jungmoon Ha ◽  
Keesan Lee ◽  
Eunjeong Yang ◽  
Woojoo Kim ◽  
Ho‐kyung Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Parus Minor

Effect of nestlings’ age on parental responses to a predatory snake in Parus minor

Behaviour ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 155 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung Moon Ha ◽  
Keesan Lee ◽  
Eun Jeong Yang ◽  
Woo Joo Kim ◽  
Ho Kyeong Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Specific Function ◽  
Nest Cavity ◽  
Ancestral Function ◽  
Parus Minor ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Evolutionary Emergence ◽  
Parental Responses

Abstract Predator-specific alarm calls may have a variety of context-specific functions. Parents of the oriental tit, Parus minor, use the ‘jar’ call in response to the presence of a snake near the nests, and the nestlings respond by escaping the nest cavity. This specific function can be observed only when nestlings are able to fledge. Do tits use the ‘jar’ call only in a situation when nestlings are physically able to jump out of the nest? We measured parental responses to live snake in 8 nests. The use of ‘jar’ call by parents was not modified by the ability of their nestlings to escape out of the nest. This suggests that fledging in response to ‘jar’ call by old nestlings evolved later than the evolutionary emergence of referential snake alarm calls, and that the ancestral function of ‘jar’ call was probably not related to triggering of fledging in old nestlings.

scholarly journals Alarm calls evoke a visual search image of a predator in birds

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (7) ◽  
pp. 1541-1545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshitaka N. Suzuki
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Animal Communication ◽  
Visual Image ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Mental Images ◽  
Search Image ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Parus Minor

One of the core features of human speech is that words cause listeners to retrieve corresponding visual mental images. However, whether vocalizations similarly evoke mental images in animal communication systems is surprisingly unknown. Japanese tits (Parus minor) produce specific alarm calls when and only when encountering a predatory snake. Here, I show that simply hearing these calls causes tits to become more visually perceptive to objects resembling snakes. During playback of snake-specific alarm calls, tits approach a wooden stick being moved in a snake-like fashion. However, tits do not respond to the same stick when hearing other call types or if the stick’s movement is dissimilar to that of a snake. Thus, before detecting a real snake, tits retrieve its visual image from snake-specific alarm calls and use this to search out snakes. This study provides evidence for a call-evoked visual search image in a nonhuman animal, offering a paradigm to explore the cognitive basis for animal vocal communication in the wild.

Clash of signs: Putting bilingualism back into language evolution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Language Evolution ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
The Real ◽  
Multiple Languages

Research and thinking into the cognitive aspects of language evolution has usually attempted to account for how the capacity for learning even one modern human language developed. Bilingualism has perhaps been thought of as something to think about only once the ‘real’ puzzle of monolingualism is solved, but this would assume in turn (and without evidence) that bilingualism evolved after monolingualism. All typically-developing children (and adults) are capable of learning multiple languages, and the majority of modern humans are at least bilingual. In this paper I ask whether by skipping bilingualism out of language evolution we have missed a trick. I propose that exposure to synonymous signs, such as food and alarm calls, are a necessary precondition for the abstracting away of sound from referent. In support of this possibility is evidence that modern day bilingual children are better at breaking this ‘word magic’ spell. More generally, language evolution should be viewed through the lens of bilingualism, as this is the end state we are attempting to explain.

scholarly journals Conceptual Analysis and Empirical Observations of Animal Minds

Philosophia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Parellada
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Animal Cognition ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Vervet Monkeys ◽  
Animal Minds ◽  
First Order

AbstractThe relation between conceptual analysis and empirical observations when ascribing or denying concepts and beliefs to non-human animals is not straightforward. In order to reflect on this relation, I focus on two theoretical proposals (Davidson’s and Allen’s) and one empirical case (vervet monkeys’ alarm calls), the three of which are permanently discussed and considered in the literature on animal cognition. First, I review briefly Davidson’s arguments for denying thought to non-linguistic animals. Second, I review Allen’s criteria for ascribing concepts to creatures capable of correcting their discriminatory powers by taking into account their previous errors. Allen affirms that this is an empirical proposal which offers good reasons, but not necessary or sufficient conditions, for concept attribution. Against Allen, I argue that his important proposal is not an empirical, but a conceptual one. Third, I resort to vervet monkeys to show that Allen’s criteria, and not Davidson’s, are very relevant for ascribing first-order and denying second-order beliefs to this species and thus make sense of the idea of animal cognition.

Species specificity of grey warbler begging solicitation and alarm calls revealed by nestling responses to playbacks

2010 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 401-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G. Anderson ◽  
Dianne H. Brunton ◽  
Mark E. Hauber
Keyword(s):  
Species Specificity ◽  
Alarm Calls

Response of eastern chipmunks to conspecific alarm calls

1995 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Weary ◽  
Donald L. Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Eastern Chipmunks
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