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Morph Composition Matters in the Gouldian Finch (Chloebia gouldiae): Involvement of Red-Headed Birds Increases Vigilance
- Source :
- Birds; Volume 2; Issue 4; Pages: 404-414, Birds, Vol 2, Iss 30, Pp 404-414 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- MDPI AG, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Animals invest in costly vigilance to detect threats. Joining groups reduces these costs, which can be further reduced in mixed-species assemblages. In colour-polymorphic species, morphs often experience different predation pressure and vary in a variety of traits. However, little is known about differences in vigilance or how group composition affects vigilance. The aim was to investigate whether higher conspicuousness increased vigilance and whether vigilance was reduced in mixed-morph groups like in mixed-species assemblages. I tested vigilance in the colour-polymorphic Gouldian Finch (Chloebia gouldiae). Same sex pairs of different age and of either pure (red-red or black-black) or mixed head colour were exposed to three contexts (familiar, changed and novel environment) and head movements were recorded. All birds reduced the frequency of head movements with increasing novelty, indicating different vigilance strategies (switching from a searching to a tracking strategy) depending on the situation. While vigilance did not differ between morphs, morph composition mattered. Black-headed pairs made fewer head movements than mixed-head colour pairs. Results indicated that conspicuousness did not affect vigilance, possibly due to existing adaptations to reduce predation risk. However, whenever red-headed birds were involved, vigilance increased either because of higher group conspicuousness or prevalence of aggression.
- Subjects :
- bird
Zoology
Affect (psychology)
SF1-1100
polymorphism
Predation
QH301
vigilance
biology.animal
medicine
QH540-549.5
Finch
QL
group composition
Ecology
biology
Aggression
QH
Novelty
Group composition
General Medicine
biology.organism_classification
Animal culture
head movements
Vigilance (behavioural ecology)
visual exploration
estrildidae
Chloebia gouldiae
medicine.symptom
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 26736004
- Volume :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Birds
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....a98adb13052ebca09dadd172dd837786