Responses of urban crows to con- and hetero-specific alarm calls in predator and non-predator zoo enclosures

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12310%2F17%3A43895432" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12310/17:43895432 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10071-016-1047-5" target="_blank" >https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10071-016-1047-5</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10071-016-1047-5" target="_blank" >10.1007/s10071-016-1047-5</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Responses of urban crows to con- and hetero-specific alarm calls in predator and non-predator zoo enclosures

Original language description

Urban animals and birds in particular are able to cope with diverse novel threats in a city environment such as avoiding novel, unfamiliar predators. Predator avoidance often includes alarm signals that can be used also by hetero-specifics, which is mainly the case in mixed-species flocks. It can also occur when species do not form flocks but co-occur together. In this study we tested whether urban crows use alarm calls of conspecifics and heterospecifics (jackdaws, Corvus monedula) differently in a predator and a non-predator context with partly novel and unfamiliar zoo animal species. Birds were tested at the Tiergarten Schonbrunn in the city of Vienna by playing back con-and hetero-specific alarm calls and control stimuli (great tit song and no stimuli) at predator (wolf, polar bear) and non-predator (eland antelope and cranes, peccaries) enclosures. We recorded responses of crows as the percentage of birds flying away after hearing the playback (out of those present before the playback) and as the number of vocalizations given by the present birds. A significantly higher percentage of crows flew away after hearing either con-or hetero-specific alarm calls, but it did not significantly differ between the predator and the nonpredator context. Crows treated jackdaw calls just as crow calls, indicating that they make proper use of hetero-specific alarm calls. Responding similarly in both contexts may suggest that the crows were uncertain about the threat a particular zoo animal represents and were generally cautious. In the predator context, however, a high percentage of crows also flew away upon hearing the great tit control song which suggests that they may still evaluate those species which occasionally killed crows as more dangerous and respond to any conspicuous sound.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10614 - Behavioral sciences biology

Project

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Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2017

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Animal Cognition

ISSN

1435-9448

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

20

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

DE - GERMANY

Number of pages

9

Pages from-to

43-51

UT code for WoS article

000394312700006

EID of the result in the Scopus database

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