Presentation Details
| The bird who cried snake: Threat discrimination by house finches Alice Welch, Elena Gasiorowski, David Kikuchi. Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA |
Abstract
Predation is a strong selective force, necessitating recognition and response by prey. Birds have highly developed visual systems with a broad color spectrum, yet not much is known about how proficient they are at discriminating between threatening and non-threatening stimuli. House finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) are native to Western North America and, in Oregon, are often depredated by gopher snakes (Pituophis catenifer) but rarely by other snakes. To examine their ability to recognize a sympatric predator, we assessed responses of wild-caught, lab-maintained house finches to potential threats. We used a neophobia assay to measure how stimuli with different colors, patterns, and shapes influenced latency to feed when placed next to the birds’ food dish. Stimuli included snake replicas painted with spectrally matched colors of real snakes, permutations of their colors, and other controls. We found that house finches can not only recognize snakes but also distinguish between sympatric species that differ in ecological relevance. Our data suggest that they do this by integrating multiple visual cues and/or signals, like color and pattern.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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