Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) wing-whistles may contain threat-related information for con- and hetero-specifics |
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Authors: | Seth W Coleman |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biology, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-3258, USA;(2) Centro de Investigación Científica de las Huastecas “Aguazarca”, Calnali, Hidalgo, Mexico |
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Abstract: | Distinct acoustic whistles are associated with the wing-beats of many doves, and are especially noticeable when doves ascend
from the ground when startled. I thus hypothesized that these sounds may be used by flock-mates as cues of potential danger.
To test this hypothesis, I compared the responses of mourning doves (Zenaida macroura), northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), and house sparrows (Passer domesticus) to audio playbacks of dove ‘startle wing-whistles’, cardinal alarm calls, dove ‘nonstartle wing-whistles’, and sparrow ‘social
chatter’. Following playbacks of startle wing-whistles and alarm calls, conspecifics and heterospecifics startled and increased
vigilance more than after playbacks of other sounds. Also, the latency to return to feeding was greater following playbacks
of startle wing-whistles and alarm calls than following playbacks of other sounds. These results suggest that both conspecifics
and heterospecifics may attend to dove wing-whistles in decisions related to antipredator behaviors. Whether the sounds of
dove wing-whistles are intentionally produced signals warrants further testing. |
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Keywords: | Animal communication Alarm calls Anti-predator behavior Sonation |
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