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Distress calls may honestly signal bird quality to predators

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dc.creator Laiolo, Paola
dc.creator Tella, José Luis
dc.creator Carrete, Martina
dc.creator Serrano, David
dc.creator López, Guillermo
dc.date 2008-03-31T11:14:45Z
dc.date 2008-03-31T11:14:45Z
dc.date 2004-11-15
dc.date.accessioned 2017-01-31T01:01:22Z
dc.date.available 2017-01-31T01:01:22Z
dc.identifier Proc Biol Sci. 2004 December 7; 271(Suppl 6): S513–S515
dc.identifier 1471-2954
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/10261/3390
dc.identifier 10.1098/rsbl.2004.0239
dc.identifier.uri http://dspace.mediu.edu.my:8181/xmlui/handle/10261/3390
dc.description In predator–prey interactions, both interactors may benefit from sharing information about prey vulnerability. We examined the relationship between calls used to discourage close predators (distress calls) and the health condition of the caller to test whether these signals are reliable indicators of prey quality. The structure of calls from captured lesser shorttoed larks Calandrella rufescens was related to their body condition and T-cell-mediated immunocompetence. Birds in better nutritional and immunological condition utter harsher calls (i.e. they spread the call energy over a wider range of frequency) than birds in poorer conditions. Hence, the harshness of distress calls seems honestly to signal the health status of prey and thus their ability to escape, on which the predator might base its optimal foraging choice. Previous studies have investigated the honesty of songs that have evolved via sexual selection, but this is the first study, to our knowledge, the demonstrates a relationship between individual quality and a vocalization primarily shaped by natural selection.
dc.description Peer reviewed
dc.format 182950 bytes
dc.format application/pdf
dc.language eng
dc.publisher Royal Society (Great Britain)
dc.rights closedAccess
dc.subject Birds
dc.subject Prey quality
dc.subject Distress calls
dc.subject Honest signal
dc.subject Immunocompetence
dc.subject Body condition
dc.title Distress calls may honestly signal bird quality to predators
dc.type Artículo


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