INVESTIGADORES
FASANELLA mariana
artículos
Título:
Breeding southern house wrens exhibit a threat‑sensitive response when exposed to different predator models
Autor/es:
DURÉ RUIZ, NATALIA M.; FASANELLA, MARIANA ; FERNÁNDEZ, GUSTAVO J.
Revista:
JOURNAL OF ETHOLOGY
Editorial:
SPRINGER TOKYO
Referencias:
Lugar: Tokyo; Año: 2017
ISSN:
0289-0771
Resumen:
We assessed the ability of southern house wrens(Troglodytes aedon musculus) to recognize and discriminatedifferent birds of prey. We exposed nesting birds tostuffed specimens of two sympatric predator species, thechimango caracara (Milvago chimango, a nest predator) andthe roadside hawk (Buteo magnirostris, a predator of adultsand nests), and to a dummy of a non-sympatric predator,the double-toothed kite (Harpagus bidentatus, a predator ofadults). Nesting wrens avoided going into their nest or tooka longer time to resume their parental duties when exposedto the predators than when they were exposed to a controldummy (Chrysomus ruficapillus, a sympatric blackbird).Nest avoidance was higher when birds were exposed tothe roadside hawk but no differences were detected whenexposed to the chimango caracara or the double-toothed kite.The results indicate that southern house wrens are able torecognize a predator, responding in a graded manner. Ourfindings support the hypothesis that southern house wrensexhibit a threat-sensitive response during breeding. Also,individuals were able to recognize the unknown predator butfailed to correctly assess the threat level represented by it.We propose that correct assessment of threat level by housewrens requires direct experience with the predator, whichmight mediate in the modulation of the response.