Alarm calls of southern house wrens, <i>Troglodytes aedon bonariae</i>, convey information about the level of risk

Fernández, Gustavo J.; Carro, Mariana E.

doi:10.1111/eth.13255

Cited by 5 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…We built 1‐min sound files by repeating these calls at either 60 calls/min for 4 high‐calling rate files or at 20 calls/min for 4 low‐calling rate files (one individual's call per file). These calling rates roughly corresponded to the maximum rates per minute observed in the high‐risk (with the predator model at <0.3 m from the nest) and low‐risk (with the model at 3 m from the nest) experiments (see Fernández & Carro, 2022 for more details).…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 64%

“…For all playbacks, we used “Type I” mobbing calls that were previously recorded from house wrens between 2013 and 2015 near General Lavalle, Buenos Aires province, Argentina (36°20′S, 56°54′W) ( N = 4, Figure 1; Fernández & Carro, 2022). These calls are produced when house wrens are confronted with threats during nesting and have a frequency that varies from 1 to 9 kHz (reaching a peak frequency at 4–6 kHz) and a duration of between 0.4 and 0.6 s (Fernández & Carro, 2022). The “Type I” calls were elicited by exposure to a human at different distances from the nest boxes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mobbing calls of the house wrens are composed of a single note (Figure 1, Fernández & Carro, 2022), whereas mobbing calls produced by the great tits and the Eurasian wrens are more complex (Figure 1). Great tits produce mobbing calls made of two parts: a few frequency‐modulated elements, which are then followed by a string of broadband frequency notes (D notes, Figure 1, Dutour et al, 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The "Type I" calls were elicited by exposure to a human at different distances from the nest boxes. Calls were recorded using a Fostex FR-2 LE solid-state recorder (Fostex Company; sampling rate: 44.1 kHz; accuracy: 16-bit; file format: WAV) with a Sennheiser K6/ME66 shotgun microphone (Sennheiser Electronic GmbH & Co. KG; see Fernández & Carro, 2022 for more details). We selected for playback four calls from each of four individuals.…”

Section: Call Collection and Stimuli Preparation For Playbacksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study investigated whether the great tit could perceive information about urgency in mobbing calls given by an allopatric non‐Paridae species, the Southern house wren ( Troglodytes aedon bonariae , Figure 1). Southern house wrens encode urgency information in their mobbing calls by increasing the rate of alarm calling in response to closer threats, to which conspecifics and sympatric heterospecifics respond appropriately (Fernández & Carro, 2022). Great tits encoded urgency in a similar way to that of wrens, by increasing the rate of alarm calling according to the level of the threat (Carlson et al, 2017; Kalb et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How great tits respond to urgency‐based information in allopatric Southern house wren mobbing calls

2022

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Many species of birds use alarm calls to signal information about predators, including the level of threat. Previous playback experiments suggest that the urgency response towards heterospecific calls is phylogenetically conserved, notably in the Paridae family. Using playback experiments conducted on European great tits (Parus major), we tested whether this species perceives information about urgency in mobbing calls produced by an allopatric non‐Paridae species, the Southern house wren (Troglodytes aedon bonariae), by broadcasting calls with high‐calling rate (high threat) and calls with low‐calling rate (low threat). We found that great tits tend to approach the loudspeaker during playbacks of calls with high‐calling rate more often than during playbacks of calls with low‐calling rate. Female great tits gave more calls during playbacks of calls with high‐calling rate than during playbacks of calls with low‐calling rate, whereas there was no significant difference in the number of calls given by males between playbacks of calls with high‐ and low‐calling rates. Thus, our results suggested that great tits perceived the urgency message encoded in calls given by an allopatric non‐Paridae species.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 64%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Call Collection and Stimuli Preparation For Playbacksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How great tits respond to urgency‐based information in allopatric Southern house wren mobbing calls

2022

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Information transfer during mobbing: call rate is more important than the number of callers in a southern temperate passerine

Fernández

Dutour

Carro

2023

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Many bird species vary their alarm calls according to the level of risk they face and this information can be used by receivers to respond to the mobbing event. Recent studies have also found that the number of callers can play an important role in the decision of subsequent individuals to join a mobbing event. We conducted a playback experiment to assess if differences in calling rate and number of callers elicit different behavioural responses in the house wren (Troglodytes aedon chilensis). We broadcast the alarm call of either one or two individuals, at different calling rates along the breeding season. We found that house wrens responded more frequently during playback of alarm calls at higher rates than during playback of calls at lower rates. However, focal individuals moved closer to the speaker when calls were played back at lower rates. There were no differences in the response of house wrens when we broadcast the calls of one or two individuals. These results suggest that call rates are an important element in the communication of danger in the house wren, rather than caller number. Signi cance statementMobbing is an anti-predator strategy observed in many species, and often involves the use of calls that can communicate to conspeci cs and heterospeci cs about the threat of the predator. Understanding the factors and cues that receivers use to respond is an important element in understanding communication between individuals. We studied the role of call rate and number of callers in the behavioural response to mobbing calls of individuals in the house wren during the breeding season. Using a playback experiment, we show that individuals respond more often to calls played at a high rate, regardless of the number of callers. House wrens' call rates vary according to the level of perceived risk, so our results show that receivers use this information to respond to mobbing calls.

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Risk assessment during nest defense against three simulated predators by female northern house wrens (Troglodytes aedon)

Eggleston

Fornara

Davis

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Offspring predation is one of the greatest obstacles to an organism's reproductive success, but parents vary in the strength of their response to potential predators. One explanation for this variable investment is that defending current offspring has the potential to lower future reproductive success if the predator is also capable of injuring or killing the parent. House wrens (Troglodytes aedon aedon) are cavity-nesting songbirds that defend against multiple species of nest predators including small mammals, birds of prey, and snakes. Here, we used three different predator decoys: two nest predators - an eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) and an eastern ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis) - as well as a predator of both offspring and adults - a juvenile Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperi) - to elicit nest defense and test whether females use risk assessment to modulate their antipredator behavior. We found that antipredator behaviors were not significantly different between the two nest predators, which posed a high risk to the nestlings, but lower risk to the parents as neither species frequently captures adult wrens. Females also did not differ significantly in their responses to the snake between years, suggesting that the population-level response might be consistent through time. However, female wrens never dove at or attacked the Cooper's hawk despite frequently attacking both the snake and chipmunk decoys. Collectively, these results show that female house wrens exhibit plasticity in their antipredator behavior, and they respond to different types of predators in a way that could maximize lifetime fitness while risking the loss of their current offspring.

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Alarm calls of southern house wrens, Troglodytes aedon bonariae, convey information about the level of risk

Cited by 5 publications

References 50 publications

How great tits respond to urgency‐based information in allopatric Southern house wren mobbing calls

How great tits respond to urgency‐based information in allopatric Southern house wren mobbing calls

Information transfer during mobbing: call rate is more important than the number of callers in a southern temperate passerine

Risk assessment during nest defense against three simulated predators by female northern house wrens (Troglodytes aedon)

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