Nepotistic alarm calling in the Siberian jay, Perisoreus infaustus
Section snippets
Study site and species
We studied Siberian jays in continuous taiga habitat outside Arvidsjaur, northern Sweden (65°40′N, 19°0′E; N=28 groups). Birds were marked with a numbered metal ring and colour rings for individual recognition. Blood samples (100 μl of blood collected from the alar vein) were taken from all individuals for sex determination using the P2/P8 method (Griffiths et al. 1998). The age of first-year birds that had not been ringed as nestlings could be reliably determined from the shape of the outermost
Nepotistic alarm calling
The birds called in 34 of 40 trials, and both birds in the dyad called in six of these 34. Our analysis considers only the first call, because subsequent calls could be a response to the first. Alpha birds were significantly more likely to give the first call (79%; binomial test: P=0.003; Table 1). There was an asymmetry not only in that alpha birds were more likely to call first, but also in that calling was nepotistic (logistic regression: P<0.0001; Table 2). However, only alpha females were
Fitness consequences of alarm calling
The response of Siberian jay alpha females to the simulated hawk attacks demonstrates that there is a nepotistic component to alarm calling. Alarm calling, however, is only a proximate behavioural mechanism by which individuals can enhance predator protection for kin (Hamilton, 1964, Sherman, 1977, Sherman, 1985). The full evolutionary consequences require that survival costs to callers and survival benefits to individuals being alerted are ultimately assessed (Hauber & Sherman 1998). A
Acknowledgements
We thank Tim Birkhead, Janis Dickinson, Jacob Höglund, Walt Koenig, Hanna Kokko, Raoul Mulder, Lisa Shorey Staffan Ulfstrand, and Johan Wallin for valuable comments that improved the manuscript, Claire Spottiswoode for improving the English and Vittorio Baglione for stimulating and critical comments throughout the study. Gunnar and Ingrid Perssson generously gave us access to the facilities of ‘Lappugglan’ to set up our field base in Arvidsjaur. In the field we received the much appreciated
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J. Ekman is at the Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.