ArticleLearning & behavior2021
Who is crying wolf? Seasonal effect on antipredator response to age-specific alarm calls in common ravens, Corvus corax.
Article in Learning & behavior, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- When to mob? plasticity of antipredator behavior in common ravens' families (Corvus corax) across offspring development.Animal cognition · 2025Article
- Selective selfishness in alarm calling behaviour by some members of wintering mixed-species groups of crested tits and willow tits.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Social dynamics impact scolding behaviour in captive groups of common ravens (Corvus corax).Frontiers in zoology · 2022Article
- Early social environment affects attention to social cues in juvenile common ravens,Royal Society open science · 2022Article
- Wild cognition - linking form and function of cognitive abilities within a natural context.Current opinion in behavioral sciences · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Communication about threats including those posed by the presence of predators occurs mainly through acoustic signals called alarm calls. The comprehension of these calls by receivers and their rapid antipredator response are crucial in terms of survival. However, to avoid overreaction, individuals should evaluate whether or not an antipredator response is needed by paying attention to who is calling. For instance, we could expect adults to be more experienced with predator encounters than juveniles and thus elicit stronger antipredator responses in others when alarming. Similarly, we could expect a stronger response to alarm calls when more than one individual is calling. To test these assumptions, we applied a playback experiment to wild ravens, in which we manipulated the age class (adult or juvenile) and the number (one or two) of the callers. Our results revealed a seasonal effect of age class but no effect of number of callers. Specifically, the ravens responded with stronger antipredator behaviour (vigilance posture) towards alarm calls from adults as compared to juveniles in summer and autumn, but not in spring. We discuss alternative interpretations for this unexpected seasonal pattern and argue for more studies on call-based communication in birds to understand what type of information is relevant under which conditions.
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Registered trials
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