Social calls predict foraging success in big brown bats.

ABSTRACT: Animals foraging in the dark are engaged simultaneously in prey pursuit, collision avoidance, and interactions with conspecifics, making efficient nonvisual communication essential. A variety of birds and mammals emit food-associated calls that inform, attract, or repel conspecifics (e.g.,). Big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) are insectivorous aerial hawkers that may forage near conspecifics and are known to emit social calls (e.g.,). Calls recorded in a foraging setting might attract (e.g.,) or repel conspecifics and could denote territoriality or food claiming. Here, we provide evidence that the "frequency-modulated bout" (FMB), a social call emitted only by male bats (exclusively in a foraging context), is used to claim food and is individually distinct. Bats were studied individually an

SUBMITTER: Wright GS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4096630 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature