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

Jungmoon Ha, Keesan Lee, Eunjeong Yang, Woojoo Kim, Ho kyung Song, Injae Hwang, Larisa Lee-Cruz, Sang im Lee, Piotr Jablonski

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Anti-predatory strategies of birds are diverse and may include predator-specific alarm calls. For example, oriental tit (Parus minor) parents can distinguish snakes from other predators and produce snake-specific referential vocalizations ("jar" call) when a snake poses a threat to their nest. The “jar” call has a very specific function to induce fledging of nestlings close to fledging age. This reaction ensures nestlings' survival in natural encounters with snakes that are capable of entering nest cavities and kill entire broods. Sciurid rodents, like chipmunks, may pose a similar threat to cavity-nesting birds. We explored the hypothesis that parents use the fledging-inducing alarm vocalizations in this situation, because chipmunks, like snakes, can kill the brood upon entering the nest cavity. We compared alarm calls of parents toward two predators (chipmunk and snake) who pose a similar threat to the nestlings in a nest cavity, and toward an avian predator (Eurasian jay) who cannot enter nest cavities and poses no threat to the nestlings in a nest. Our results show that the vocal responses of oriental tits were different among the three predators. This suggests that the acoustic properties of vocal responses to predators are different between predators of a similar hunting strategy (nest-cavity entering). The playback of recorded vocal responses of parents to chipmunks did not trigger the fledging of old nestlings, whereas the vocalizations toward a snake did, as shown by earlier studies. Our study suggests that the vocal response of parents does not carry information about the ability of predators to enter the nest cavity and confirms the special status of alarm calls triggered by snakes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)610-619
Number of pages10
JournalEthology
Volume126
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Blackwell Verlag GmbH

Keywords

  • Parus minor
  • alarm call
  • anti-predator
  • birds
  • nest predation
  • referential call

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