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Behavioral Ecology Advance Access originally published online on April 8, 2008
Behavioral Ecology 2008 19(4):759-763; doi:10.1093/beheco/arn034
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Eastern chipmunks increase their perception of predation risk in response to titmouse alarm calls

Kenneth A. Schmidta, Eunice Leea, Richard S. Ostfeldb and Kathryn Sievingc

a Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, MS 3131, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA b Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA c Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, 110 Newins-Ziegler Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611-0430, USA

Address correspondence to K.A. Schmidt. E-mail: kenneth.schmidt{at}ttu.edu.


  Abstract

Vocally signaling a predator's presence through alarm calls creates public information regarding risk in the environment. If having this information confers an advantage, eavesdropping behavior, the use of information in signals by individuals other than the primary target, is expected to evolve. Thus, eavesdropping for information on predation risk to avoid predators may be common. We describe the first study to quantify an effect of avian alarm calling on the perceived cost of predation in a mammalian receiver/eavesdropper using the eastern tufted titmouse–eastern chipmunk dyad. We used the technique of giving-up densities to quantify changes in chipmunks’ perceived risk of predation while foraging under experimental playbacks of titmouse vocalizations (seet, mobbing, and contact calls), hawk calls, and wood thrush song (control). Titmouse mobbing calls significantly increased chipmunk's perceived risk of predation. Chipmunks also appeared to divert attention (i.e., cost of multitasking) to monitoring alarm call playbacks/assessing predation risk as shown by the absence of density-dependent foraging. In contrast, when foraging during hawk calls (a direct cue of predation risk), chipmunks showed no differences in foraging relative to controls. These results support other published studies that prey respond more strongly to indirect source of information about predation risk than to direct sources.

Key words: alarm calls, eastern tufted titmouse, eavesdropping, information, predation risk.

Received 14 December 2006; revised 7 June 2007; accepted 16 January 2008.


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