Alarm calls modulate the spatial structure of a breeding owl community

Animals should continuously assess the threat of predation. Alarm calls inform on predation risk and are often used as cues to shape behavioural responses in birds and mammals. Hitherto, however, the ecological consequences of alarm calls in terms of organization of animal communities have been negl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2012-06, Vol.279 (1736), p.2135-2141
Main Authors: Parejo, Deseada, Avilés, Jesús M, Rodríguez, Juan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alarm Calls
animal communities
Animals
antipredatory behavior
Athene noctua
Aviculture
Bird nesting
Birds of prey
Breeding
Breeding Habitat Selection
Breeding sites
Conspecifics And Heterospecifics
Eavesdropping
Ecological Consequences
Ecosystem
mammals
migratory behavior
Otus
Owls
predation
Predation Risk
Predators
Predatory Behavior - physiology
reproduction
risk
Sexual Behavior, Animal
Species
Strigiformes - physiology
Synecology
Vocalization, Animal
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Summary:Animals should continuously assess the threat of predation. Alarm calls inform on predation risk and are often used as cues to shape behavioural responses in birds and mammals. Hitherto, however, the ecological consequences of alarm calls in terms of organization of animal communities have been neglected. Here, we show experimentally that calls of a resident nocturnal raptor, the little owl Athene noctua, triggered a response in terms of breeding habitat selection and investment in current reproduction in conspecifics and heterospecifics. Little owls preferred to settle in territories where calls of conspecifics, irrespective of their type (i.e. alarm versus contact calls), were broadcasted, indicating that either conspecific attraction exists or calls are interpreted as foreign calls, eliciting settlement as a mode of defence against competitors. Also, we found that little owls seemed to invest more in current reproduction in safe territories as revealed by conspecific calls. Innovatively, we reported that a second owl species, the migratory scops owl Otus scops, preferred to breed in safe territories as indicated by little owls' calls. These results evidence that the emission of alarm calls may have, apart from well-known behavioural effects, ecological consequences in natural communities by inducing species-specific biases in breeding habitat selection. This study demonstrates a previously unsuspected informative role of avian alarm calls which may modulate the spatial structure of species within communities.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2011.2601