Functional traits including interspecific sociality affect mobbing behaviour in a bird community of southern China
In: BehaviourGuangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, P.R. China
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Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, P.R. China
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Abstract
Mobbing is a prevalent anti-predatory behaviour in birds where prey actively engage in harassing predators. Functional traits have been shown to affect prey species’ tendency to engage in mobbing, but empirical studies have largely neglected to assess the influence of some other potentially important functional traits, such as intraspecific and interspecific sociality, on mobbing or measured different aspects of the behaviour. In this study, we performed playback experiments that elicited mobbing responses from a forest bird community in southern China, to investigate the influence of body mass, foraging strata, as well as intra- and interspecific sociality, on the prevalence of mobbing, as well as the intensity of aggression and vocalness. We found that species with small body masses engaged in more frequent and intense mobbing behaviours. Notably, interspecific sociality was negatively associated with birds’ mobbing prevalence and tended to be negatively associated with vocalness.
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Functional traits including interspecific sociality affect mobbing behaviour in a bird community of southern China
In: BehaviourGuangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, P.R. China
Search for other papers by Demeng Jiang in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Fangyuan Hua in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, P.R. China
Search for other papers by Eben Goodale in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Mobbing is a prevalent anti-predatory behaviour in birds where prey actively engage in harassing predators. Functional traits have been shown to affect prey species’ tendency to engage in mobbing, but empirical studies have largely neglected to assess the influence of some other potentially important functional traits, such as intraspecific and interspecific sociality, on mobbing or measured different aspects of the behaviour. In this study, we performed playback experiments that elicited mobbing responses from a forest bird community in southern China, to investigate the influence of body mass, foraging strata, as well as intra- and interspecific sociality, on the prevalence of mobbing, as well as the intensity of aggression and vocalness. We found that species with small body masses engaged in more frequent and intense mobbing behaviours. Notably, interspecific sociality was negatively associated with birds’ mobbing prevalence and tended to be negatively associated with vocalness.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 407 | 229 | 3 |
| Full Text Views | 102 | 16 | 3 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 142 | 30 | 4 |