Authors
Branislav Igic, Chaminda P Ratnayake, Andrew N Radford, Robert D Magrath
Publication date
2019/2/1
Journal
Animal Behaviour
Volume
148
Pages
133-143
Publisher
Academic Press
Description
Highlights
- Numerical rules can allow animals to assess the reliability of social information.
- We tested the response of Australian magpies to alarm calls from heterospecifics.
- Birds responded more to alarm calls from two individuals than a single individual.
- However, birds did not respond more to choruses from two species than one species.
- Magpies did use numerical rules, but the value of multiple species' calls may vary.
Social information varies in its reliability and relevance, requiring individuals to use rules to avoid inappropriate responses to false information. A simple rule is to respond only when a certain number of individuals provide similar information. Although individuals within social groups can use such numerical rules to assess conspecific information and make consensus decisions, it is unknown whether individuals apply similar rules when assessing the value of heterospecific information. We consider the …
Scholar articles
B Igic, CP Ratnayake, AN Radford, RD Magrath - Animal Behaviour, 2019