Interspecific signalling between mutualists: food-thieving drongos use a cooperative sentinel call to manipulate foraging partners.

ABSTRACT: Interspecific communication is common in nature, particularly between mutualists. However, whether signals evolved for communication with other species, or are in fact conspecific signals eavesdropped upon by partners, is often unclear. Fork-tailed drongos (Dicrurus adsimilis) associate with mixed-species groups and often produce true alarms at predators, whereupon associating species flee to cover, but also false alarms to steal associating species' food (kleptoparasitism). Despite such deception, associating species respond to drongo non-alarm calls by increasing their foraging and decreasing vigilance. Yet, whether these calls represent interspecific sentinel signals remains unknown. We show that drongos produced a specific sentinel call when foraging with a common associate, the sociab

SUBMITTER: Baigrie BD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4132685 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature