Conspicuous Animals Remain Alert When Under Cover but Do Not Differ in the Temporal Course of Vigilance from Less Conspicuous Species
Conspicuousness increases the risk of predation. One strategy to reduce this risk is to increase vigilance. We investigated the frequency of head movements as a measure of vigilance at waterholes in two related songbird species that differed in their conspicuousness: the Gouldian finch and the long-...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/2/214 |
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| author | Gerhard Hofmann Claudia Mettke-Hofmann |
| author_facet | Gerhard Hofmann Claudia Mettke-Hofmann |
| author_sort | Gerhard Hofmann |
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| description | Conspicuousness increases the risk of predation. One strategy to reduce this risk is to increase vigilance. We investigated the frequency of head movements as a measure of vigilance at waterholes in two related songbird species that differed in their conspicuousness: the Gouldian finch and the long-tailed finch. While both species showed a high frequency of head movements (high vigilance) when sitting in an open tree, the more colourful Gouldian finch remained more vigilant than the less conspicuous long-tailed finch when sitting under cover. Moreover, juvenile Gouldian finches had similar vigilance levels than adults; whereas, juveniles of the long-tailed finch were less vigilant, possibly because of staying in the family group. Furthermore, both species showed a similar temporal course of vigilance with a fast decrease in vigilance after landing in the tree, which was affected by group size. Single individuals had much higher vigilance than groups of birds. Finally, vigilance was higher at small waterholes. The results show that conspicuousness, uncertainty when arriving at waterholes, and higher perceived risk at small waterholes increased vigilance. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f9ede87d9577440393e08371039e949c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj-art-f9ede87d9577440393e08371039e949c2025-01-24T13:18:07ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152025-01-0115221410.3390/ani15020214Conspicuous Animals Remain Alert When Under Cover but Do Not Differ in the Temporal Course of Vigilance from Less Conspicuous SpeciesGerhard Hofmann0Claudia Mettke-Hofmann1Independent Researcher, Moreton CH46, UKSchool of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UKConspicuousness increases the risk of predation. One strategy to reduce this risk is to increase vigilance. We investigated the frequency of head movements as a measure of vigilance at waterholes in two related songbird species that differed in their conspicuousness: the Gouldian finch and the long-tailed finch. While both species showed a high frequency of head movements (high vigilance) when sitting in an open tree, the more colourful Gouldian finch remained more vigilant than the less conspicuous long-tailed finch when sitting under cover. Moreover, juvenile Gouldian finches had similar vigilance levels than adults; whereas, juveniles of the long-tailed finch were less vigilant, possibly because of staying in the family group. Furthermore, both species showed a similar temporal course of vigilance with a fast decrease in vigilance after landing in the tree, which was affected by group size. Single individuals had much higher vigilance than groups of birds. Finally, vigilance was higher at small waterholes. The results show that conspicuousness, uncertainty when arriving at waterholes, and higher perceived risk at small waterholes increased vigilance.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/2/214social vigilanceantipredator behaviourwaterholesageGouldian finchlong-tailed finch |
| spellingShingle | Gerhard Hofmann Claudia Mettke-Hofmann Conspicuous Animals Remain Alert When Under Cover but Do Not Differ in the Temporal Course of Vigilance from Less Conspicuous Species Animals social vigilance antipredator behaviour waterholes age Gouldian finch long-tailed finch |
| title | Conspicuous Animals Remain Alert When Under Cover but Do Not Differ in the Temporal Course of Vigilance from Less Conspicuous Species |
| title_full | Conspicuous Animals Remain Alert When Under Cover but Do Not Differ in the Temporal Course of Vigilance from Less Conspicuous Species |
| title_fullStr | Conspicuous Animals Remain Alert When Under Cover but Do Not Differ in the Temporal Course of Vigilance from Less Conspicuous Species |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conspicuous Animals Remain Alert When Under Cover but Do Not Differ in the Temporal Course of Vigilance from Less Conspicuous Species |
| title_short | Conspicuous Animals Remain Alert When Under Cover but Do Not Differ in the Temporal Course of Vigilance from Less Conspicuous Species |
| title_sort | conspicuous animals remain alert when under cover but do not differ in the temporal course of vigilance from less conspicuous species |
| topic | social vigilance antipredator behaviour waterholes age Gouldian finch long-tailed finch |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/2/214 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gerhardhofmann conspicuousanimalsremainalertwhenundercoverbutdonotdifferinthetemporalcourseofvigilancefromlessconspicuousspecies AT claudiamettkehofmann conspicuousanimalsremainalertwhenundercoverbutdonotdifferinthetemporalcourseofvigilancefromlessconspicuousspecies |