Anti-predator response to raptor calls in wild crows, Corvus brachyrhynchos hesperis
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
1994 |
Authors: |
M. D. Hauser C. Caffrey |
Publication/Journal: |
Animal Behaviour |
Keywords: |
anti-predator behavior, anti-predator behaviour, predators, vocalization behavior, vocalization behaviour |
Abstract:
Studies of anti-predator adaptations typically focus on behavioural tactics such as vigilance, alarm calling and mobbing. Less information is available regarding the sorts of environmental cues available to prey for detecting predators, together with the design features of the sensory mechanisms facilitating detection and recognition. Several recent studies, however, have indicated that prey are capable of using auditory cues associated with the predator (e.g. alarm calls) to increase the probability of early detection. We designed a series of playback experiments to determine whether western American crows (1) recognize the calls of their predators and (2) discriminate between these ecologically significant sounds and acoustically similar, but ecologically unimportant sounds.