The sentinel behaviour of Arabian babbler floaters.

ABSTRACT: The sentinel behaviour of 38 Arabian babbler adult floaters, who lived alone within a territory belonging to a foreign group, was studied and compared with their own sentinel behaviour in the past, when they were group members. All floaters acted as sentinels and uttered 'alarm calls'. This suggests that sentinel activity is due at least, in part, to selfish motives. Floaters sentinelled less than they did as group members, with the decrease in sentinel activity sharper for ex-dominants than for ex-subordinates. One possible explanation for these differences is that sentinel activity is aimed not only at detecting predators, but also at detecting foreign conspecifics. Within a group, the latter incentive is stronger for breeding dominants than for subordinates, whereas all floaters alike m

SUBMITTER: Ostreiher R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5367298 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature