Behavioural response of European starlings exposed to video playback of conspecific flocks: Effect of social context and predator threat

We studied the behavioural response of European starlings to a socially mediated predation event. Adult starlings were exposed to either a video of a flock attacked by a peregrine falcon or a video of a flock not under attack. We investigated whether the social condition affected the anti-predator r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioural Processes
Main Authors: Zoratto F., Manzari L., Oddi L., Pinxten R., Eens M., Santucci D., Alleva E., Carere C.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Flocking behaviour
Peregrine falcon
Predation risk
Social isolation
Sturnus vulgari
Video
Animal
Arousal
Behavior
Fear
Female
Functional Laterality
Interpersonal Relation
Male
Photic Stimulation
Predatory Behavior
Starling
Video Recording
Vocalization
Social Behavior
Social Environment
peregrine falcon
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2318/1802158
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2014.01.012
Description
Summary:We studied the behavioural response of European starlings to a socially mediated predation event. Adult starlings were exposed to either a video of a flock attacked by a peregrine falcon or a video of a flock not under attack. We investigated whether the social condition affected the anti-predator response under the hypothesis that in such a gregarious species singletons would increase their anti-predator behaviour more than individuals in groups, to compensate for potential increased risk. The video of the flock under attack caused an increase in immobility and vigilance, more marked in singletons, both during and after the exposure. The video of the non-threatened flock caused an increase in activity levels, especially during the exposure. Furthermore, we observed a marked increase in comfort activities in singletons as well as in social interactions and vocalizations in mini-flocks. Only birds in mini-flocks vocalized, which may be explained by an audience effect, a process of social cognition mediated by the social context, and not only by the stimulus. The results are in line with previous field studies, which showed that isolated starlings are exposed to a higher risk of predation compared to individuals in flocks. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

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