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Hammer TL, Bize P, Gineste B, Robin JP, Groscolas R, Viblanc VA. Disentangling the "many-eyes", "dilution effect", "selfish herd", and "distracted prey" hypotheses in shaping alert and flight initiation distance in a colonial seabird. Behav Processes 2023:104919. [PMID: 37481004 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 07/24/2023]
Abstract
Group living is thought to have important antipredator benefits for animals, owing to the mechanisms of shared vigilance ("many-eyes" hypothesis), risk dilution ("dilution effect" hypothesis), and relative safety in the center of the group ("selfish herd" hypothesis). However, it can also incur costs since social stimuli, such as conspecific aggression, may distract individuals from anti-predator behavior ("distracted prey" hypothesis). We simultaneously evaluated how these four different hypotheses shape anti-predator behaviors of breeding king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), which aggregate into large colonies, experience frequent aggressive social interactions, and are regularly exposed to predation by giant petrels (Macronectes sp.) and brown skuas (Catharacta loonbergi) when breeding on land. We approached 200 incubating penguins at four different periods of the breeding season across a range of overall increasing colony densities. We measured the distance at which focal birds detected the approaching threat (alert distance: AD), whether birds decided to flee or not, and the distance of flight initiation (flight initiation distance: FID, viz. the bird attempting to walk away with its egg on its feet). We quantified relative local neighbor density, centrality within the colony (rank), and the number of aggressions the focal bird emitted towards neighbors during the approach. We found that birds engaged in aggressive conflicts with neighbors were less likely to flee, and that increasing relative local neighbor density at low and medium overall colony density resulted in a decrease in bird AD, both supporting the "distracted prey" hypothesis. However, at maximal overall colony density, increasing relative local neighbor density resulted in longer AD, supporting the "many-eyes" hypothesis. We found no support for the "dilution effect" and "selfish herd" hypotheses, and no effects of any hypothesis on FID.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tracey L Hammer
- University of Strasbourg, CNRS, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France
| | - Pierre Bize
- Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach, Switzerland
| | - Benoit Gineste
- University of Strasbourg, CNRS, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France; IPEV - Institut Polaire Français Paul Émile Victor, 29280 Plouzané, France
| | - Jean-Patrice Robin
- University of Strasbourg, CNRS, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France
| | - René Groscolas
- University of Strasbourg, CNRS, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France
| | - Vincent A Viblanc
- University of Strasbourg, CNRS, Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France
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2
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Bar-Ziv M, Sofer A, Gorovoy A, Spiegel O. Beyond simple habituation: Anthropogenic habitats influence the escape behaviour of spur-winged lapwings in response to both human and non-human threats. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:417-429. [PMID: 36477653 PMCID: PMC10107496 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Habitat development may affect wildlife behaviour, favouring individuals or behaviours that cope better with perceived threats (predators). Bolder behaviours in human-dominated habitats (HDH; e.g. urban and rural settlements) may represent habituation specifically to humans, or a general reduction in predator-avoidance response. However, such carry-over effects across threat types (i.e. beyond humans) and phases of the escape sequence have not been well studied to date. Here we investigated escape behaviours of a locally common wader species, the spur-winged lapwing Vanellus spinosus. We assayed their flight initiation distance (FID) and subsequent escape behaviours in agricultural areas and in HDH. We found that lapwings in HDH were bolder, and that the difference was manifested in several phases of the predator-avoidance sequence (shorter FIDs, shorter distances fled, and a higher probability of escape by running vs. flying). When re-approached (by an observer) after landing, lapwings in HDH were also more repetitive in their FID than those in other habitats. To determine whether this apparent bolder behaviour in HDH areas is merely a consequence of habituation to humans or represents a broader behavioural change, we introduced an additional threat type-a remotely-operated taxidermic jackal ('Jack-Truck'). Finding bolder responses in the HDH to the human threat alone (and not to the Jack-Truck) could have supported the habituation hypothesis. In contrast, however, we found a bolder response in the HDH to both threat types, as well as a correlation between their FIDs across different sites. These bolder behaviours suggest that HDH impose a broader behavioural change on lapwings, rather than just simple habituation. Overall, our findings demonstrate how FID trials can reveal strong behavioural carry-over effects of HDH following human and non-human threats, including effects on the subsequent phases of escaping the predator. Further, FID assays may reveal consistent behavioural types when assessed under field conditions, and offer a direct way to differentiate among the various poorly understood and non-mutually exclusive mechanisms that lead to behavioural differences among organisms in HDH. The mechanistic perspective is essential for understanding how rapid urbanization impacts wildlife behaviour, populations, and the range of behaviours within them, even in species apparently resilient to such environmental changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Bar-Ziv
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Aran Sofer
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Adel Gorovoy
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Orr Spiegel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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Morelli F, Mikula P, Blumstein DT, Díaz M, Markó G, Jokimäki J, Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki ML, Floigl K, Zeid FA, Siretckaia A, Benedetti Y. Flight initiation distance and refuge in urban birds. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 842:156939. [PMID: 35753455 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Revised: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Risk-taking in birds is often measured as the flight initiation distance (FID), the distance at which individuals take flight when approached by a potential predator (typically a human). The ecological factors that affect avian FID have received great attention over the past decades and meta-analyses and comparative analyses have shown that FID is correlated with body mass, flock size, starting distance of the approaching human, density of potential predators, as well as varying along rural to urban gradients. However, surprisingly, only few studies (mainly on reptiles and mammals) have explored effects of different types of refugia and their availability on animal escape decisions. We used Bayesian regression models (controlling for the phylogenetic relatedness of bird species) to explore changes in escape behaviour recorded in European cities in relationship to the birds' distance to the nearest refuge and distance fled to the refuge. In our analyses, we also included information on the type of refuge, built-up and vegetation cover, starting distance, flock size, urbanization level, and type of urban habitat. We found that birds preferred tree refuges over artificial and bush refuges. Birds escaped earlier if the distance to the nearest refuge of any type was longer and if birds fled longer distances to the refuge. FID was shorter when birds used bushes as refugia or landed on the ground after flushing compared to using artificial refugia. Similarly, the distance fled to a refuge was shortest when using bushes, and increased when escaping to artificial substrates and trees. Birds were more timid in suburban than core areas of cities, cemeteries than parks, and in areas with higher bush cover but lower cover of built-up areas and trees. Our findings provide novel information regarding the importance of refuge proximity and type as factors affecting the escape behaviour of urban birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Morelli
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic.
| | - Peter Mikula
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Daniel T Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Mario Díaz
- Department of Biogeography and Global Change, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (BGC-MNCN-CSIC), E-28006 Madrid, Spain
| | - Gábor Markó
- Department of Plant Pathology, Institute of Plant Protection, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Ménesi út 44, Budapest 1118, Hungary
| | - Jukka Jokimäki
- Nature Inventory and EIA-services, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, P. O. Box 122, FI-96101 Rovaniemi, Finland
| | | | - Kristina Floigl
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Farah Abou Zeid
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Anastasiia Siretckaia
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Yanina Benedetti
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic
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Mikula P, Kwieciński Z, Kaługa I, Tryjanowski P. The Crimean population of the lesser grey shrike (Lanius minor) has low behavioural flexibility in its response to approaching humans. JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.25225/jvb.22038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Peter Mikula
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic; e-mail:
| | | | | | - Piotr Tryjanowski
- Department of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poznań, Poland; e-mail:
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Ncube E, Tarakini T. Human depredation risk and flight initiation distance of birds in rural areas, Zimbabwe. Afr J Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/aje.13015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuel Ncube
- School of Wildlife, Ecology and Conservation Chinhoyi University of Technology Chinhoyi Zimbabwe
| | - Tawanda Tarakini
- School of Wildlife, Ecology and Conservation Chinhoyi University of Technology Chinhoyi Zimbabwe
- Research and Education for Sustainable Actions Chinhoyi Zimbabwe
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6
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Antipredator responses of the morphs of an amphibian species match their differential predation pressures. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03140-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Hammer TL, Bize P, Saraux C, Gineste B, Robin J, Groscolas R, Viblanc VA. Repeatability of alert and flight initiation distances in king penguins: Effects of colony, approach speed, and weather. Ethology 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tracey L. Hammer
- CNRS Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien UMR 7178 University of Strasbourg Strasbourg France
| | - Pierre Bize
- School of Biological Sciences University of Aberdeen Aberdeen UK
| | - Claire Saraux
- CNRS Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien UMR 7178 University of Strasbourg Strasbourg France
| | - Benoit Gineste
- CNRS Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien UMR 7178 University of Strasbourg Strasbourg France
- IPEV – Institut Polaire Français Paul‐Émile‐Victor Plouzané France
| | - Jean‐Patrice Robin
- CNRS Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien UMR 7178 University of Strasbourg Strasbourg France
| | - René Groscolas
- CNRS Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien UMR 7178 University of Strasbourg Strasbourg France
| | - Vincent A. Viblanc
- CNRS Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien UMR 7178 University of Strasbourg Strasbourg France
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Novčić I, Parača V. Seasonal differences in escape behaviour in the urban hooded crow, Corvus cornix. JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.25225/jvb.21066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ivana Novčić
- Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia; e-mail: ,
| | - Vanja Parača
- Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia; e-mail: ,
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Guo C, Zhou S, Krzton A, Xiang Z. Variation in escape response of Himalayan marmots (
Marmota himalayana
) under different human disturbances. Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Guo
- College of Life Science and Technology Central South University of Forestry and Technology Changsha China
| | - Shuailing Zhou
- College of Life Science and Technology Central South University of Forestry and Technology Changsha China
| | - Ali Krzton
- Department of Research and Instruction RBD Library Auburn University Auburn Alabama USA
| | - Zuofu Xiang
- College of Life Science and Technology Central South University of Forestry and Technology Changsha China
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Dutour M, Walsh SL, Speechley EM, Ridley AR. Female Western Australian magpies discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar human voices. Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mylène Dutour
- School of Biological Sciences University of Western Australia Crawley WA Australia
| | - Sarah L. Walsh
- School of Biological Sciences University of Western Australia Crawley WA Australia
| | | | - Amanda R. Ridley
- School of Biological Sciences University of Western Australia Crawley WA Australia
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Tätte K, Møller AP, Mänd R. Corvids exhibit dynamic risk assessment during escape. Behav Processes 2019; 170:104017. [PMID: 31830510 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.104017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2019] [Revised: 11/26/2019] [Accepted: 11/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
It is widely accepted that stationary prey are able to carefully assess the risk levels associated with an approaching predator to make informative decisions on when to escape. However, little is known about subsequent decision-making process. We set out to compare whether escape durations of three species of corvids differ depending on how a human observer (in the role of a predator) behaves after the escape has begun. When birds were being followed during escape, escape durations were the longest, escape trajectory was modified the most during escape, and a larger proportion of individuals changed from terrestrial to aerial escape strategy compared to observations where birds were not followed. Mean horizontal escape angle of ca 120° was also a potential indication that monitoring the threat is taken into account when deciding on the escape trajectory. While there were some differences between the behaviour of these three closely related species, the general patterns supported the notion that birds dynamically assess risk during escape to find an optimal balance between getting caught and spending too much time and energy on escaping. Further research using different predator-prey combinations or making comparisons between habitats could help understand the generality of our results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kunter Tätte
- Department of Zoology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
| | - Anders Pape Møller
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Saclay, France; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Raivo Mänd
- Department of Zoology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
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