A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Age-dependent responses to alarm calls depend on foraging activity in Willow Tits Poecile montanus




AuthorsRajala M, Kareksela S, Ratti O, Suhonen J

PublisherWILEY-BLACKWELL

Publication year2012

JournalIbis

Journal name in sourceIBIS

Journal acronymIBIS

Number in series1

Volume154

Issue1

First page 189

Last page194

Number of pages6

ISSN0019-1019

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919X.2011.01188.x(external)


Abstract
Survivorship in animals depends on both foraging activities and avoidance of predation, and thus behavioural decisions often reflect a trade-off between predation risk and foraging efficiency. In this experimental study, we compared behavioural responses of free-living adult and juvenile Willow Tits Poecile montanus to a conspecific alarm call in two treatments. The alarm call was played back when a focal bird was either not feeding, or feeding on a sunflower seed on the middle part of a spruce branch. When feeding at the time of the alarm call, juveniles more often stayed motionless or moved shorter distances than adults. Our results suggest that in hierarchical groups, juveniles are forced to take greater risks to maintain access to food or lack experience to optimize between food and safety.



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