Territorial responses of male blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus , to UV-manipulated neighbours |
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Authors: | Angelika Poesel Torben Dabelsteen Safi-Kirstine Darden Kaspar Delhey and Anne Peters |
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Institution: | (1) Animal Behaviour Group, Biological Institute, Tagensvej 16, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark;(2) Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics, The Ohio State University, EEOB, 1315 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212, USA;(3) Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Schlossallee 2, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany |
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Abstract: | Multiple phenotypic traits can affect the outcome of interactions among territorial animals. Individuals may use current and
previously acquired information on phenotypic traits to assess the competitive ability of opponents and adjust the strength
of their response depending on the threat the opponent poses. In birds, colourful plumage and song are widespread phenotypic
traits. Recent work has shown that ultraviolet (UV) plumage reflectance may be used by males in assessing an opponent’s strength
and by females in mate choice. In the present study, we investigated whether and how territorial male blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, use previously acquired information from UV reflectance of the crown feathers of neighbours to adjust their response to
playback of song of these neighbours simulated to intrude their territory. We compared responses to neighbours with those
to unfamiliar strangers with unknown plumage features. We found that subject males with UV-enhanced neighbours responded more
strongly to these neighbours than to strangers, i.e. showed more flights, used songs without trill and tended to overlap more
songs. Subject males with UV-reduced neighbours gave a lower or similar response to neighbours compared to strangers. This
indicates that male blue tits combine previously acquired information about an intruder’s plumage with familiarity of its
song, and that their response depends on the perceived quality of the neighbour. This study provides evidence that familiarity
in combination with multiple signals of quality may influence territorial relations among neighbours. |
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Keywords: | Cyanistes caeruleus Intra-sexual signal Playback intrusion Structural plumage colouration |
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