Social learning of acoustic anti-predator cues occurs between wild bird species

Abstract

In many species, individuals gather information about their environment both through direct experience and through information obtained from others. Social learning, or the acquisition of information from others, can occur both within and between species and may facilitate the rapid spread of antipredator behaviour. Within birds, acoustic signals are frequently used to alert others to the presence of predators, and individuals can quickly learn to associate novel acoustic cues with predation risk. However, few studies have addressed whether such learning occurs only though direct experience or whether it has a social component, nor whether such learning can occur between species. We investigate these questions in two sympatric species of Parids: blue tits ( Cyanistes caeruleus ) and great tits ( Parus major ). Using playbacks of unfamiliar bird vocalizations paired with a predator model in a controlled aviary setting, we find that blue tits can learn to associate a novel sound with predation risk via direct experience, and that antipredator response to the sound can be socially transmitted to heterospecific observers, despite lack of first-hand experience. Our results suggest that social learning of acoustic cues can occur between species. Such interspecific social information transmission may help to mediate the formation of mixed-species aggregations.

Animal linguistics: Exploring referentiality and compositionality in bird calls

“…These findings accordingly reveal that the retrieval of specific search images from referential calls is not limited to intraspecific communication but can occur in response to interspecific eavesdropping. Recent studies on other species of birds have shown that eavesdropping on the alarm calls of other species is dependent on associative learning between known threats (e.g., visual stimuli from predators or known types of alarm call) and novel sounds (Keen, Cole, Sheehan, & Sheldon, 2020; Magrath, Haff, Fallow, & Radford, 2015; Magrath, Haff, McLachlan, & Igic, 2015; Potvin, Ratnayake, Radford, & Magrath, 2018). Therefore, it is likely that these birds assign mental images to heterospecific alarm calls through associative learning, although further investigations are necessary to confirm this assumption.…”

Leveraging Social Learning to Enhance Captive Animal Care and Welfare

“…While animals typically learn from conspecifics, they can also learn to interpret the behavior and cues of heterospecifics, such as in cases when birds and primates learn and respond to the calls of heterospecific animals in their environment (e.g., [180,181]). In captivity, animals also learn from, and copy, heterospecifics.…”

Lesser spot-nosed monkeys coordinate alarm call production with associated Campbell’s monkeys

“…The process is best referred to as 'eavesdropping', by which one species extracts information from another species' vocal behaviour and then reacts appropriately, mostly in the context of predator avoidance and foraging (Goodale et al 2010). Eavesdropping is widespread with a large body of evidence in primates (Zuberbühler et al 1997;Ramakrishnan and Coss 2000;Fichtel 2008;Walton and Kershenbaum 2019) but also in birds ( Fallow and Magrath 2010;Dawson Pell et al 2018;Keen et al 2020) and even reptiles. For example, non-vocal iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus and Oplurus cuvieri) can discriminate mockingbird (Nesomimus parvulus) and paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone mutate) alarm calls (Ito and Mori 2010;Vitousek et al 2007).…”