{"data":[{"source":"bio.acousti.ca","id":"57655","type":"article","title":"Great tits encode contextual information in their food and mobbing calls","author":"Kalb, Nadine; Anger, Fabian; Randler, Christoph","editor":null,"year":"2019","month":null,"journal":null,"booktitle":null,"series":null,"howpublished":null,"volume":null,"number":null,"pages":null,"chapter":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"organization":null,"institution":null,"school":null,"address":null,"type_of_work":null,"note":null,"isbn":null,"issn":null,"doi":"10.1098\/rsos.191210","url":"https:\/\/royalsocietypublishing.org\/doi\/10.1098\/rsos.191210https:\/\/royalsocietypublishing.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1098\/rsos.191210https:\/\/royalsocietypublishing.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1098\/rsos.191210https:\/\/royalsocietypublishing.org\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1098\/rsos.191210","attachments":"https:\/\/bio.acousti.ca\/sites\/default\/files\/rsos.191210.pdf","keywords":"food-associated vocalizations; mobbing; Parus major; social communication","abstract":"The calling behaviour of Paridae species (i.e. titmice, tits and chickadees) in a predator-related context is well-studied. Parid species are known to alter call types, note composition or call duration according to predation risk. However, how these species encode information about a non-threatening context, such as food sources, has been subject to only few studies. Studies in Carolina chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) have shown that this species alters the ratio of C and D notes to encode information about the presence of food and\/or the flight behaviour of the signaller. This suggests that parids also use graded signals to encode information about non-predatory contexts. No study to date has directly compared the calls of a feeding context with those of a predation (i.e. mobbing) context. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare the calling behaviour of these two situations in great tits (Parus major). Calls uttered at a feeder were recorded, analysed and compared with calls uttered in front of taxidermy mounts of sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus). In the food context, great tits reduced the number of D notes and increased the number of B, C and E notes compared with the mobbing context. Furthermore, tits produced calls with longer D notes and shorter intervals between D notes than in the mobbing context. This indicates that great tits use two mechanisms of graded signals (i.e. note type and acoustic structure of D calls) to inform conspecifics about the nature of a situation.","type_name":"Journal Article","journal_abbreviation":null,"pmid":null,"info_url":"https:\/\/bio.acousti.ca\/node\/57655"}]}