Use of mammal manure by nesting burrowing owls: a test of four functional hypotheses

M. D. Smith; C.J. Conway

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.05.012

Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · 70033182

Use of mammal manure by nesting burrowing owls: a test of four functional hypotheses

M. D. Smith·C.J. Conway

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Animals have evolved an impressive array of behavioural traits to avoid depredation. Olfactory camouflage of conspicuous odours is a strategy to avoid depredation that has been implicated only in a few species of birds. Burrowing owls, Athene cunicularia, routinely collect dried manure from mammals and scatter it in their nest chamber, in the tunnel leading to their nest and at the entrance to their nesting burrow. This unusual behaviour was thought to reduce nest depredation by concealing the scent of adults and juveniles, but a recent study suggests that manure functions to attract arthropod prey. However, burrowing owls routinely scatter other materials in the same way that they scatter manure, and this fact seems to be at odds with both of these hypotheses. Thus, we examined the function of this behaviour by testing four alternative hypotheses. We found no support for the widely cited olfactory-camouflage hypothesis (manure did not lower the probability of depredation), or for the mate-attraction hypothesis (males collected manure after, not before, pair formation). Predictions of the burrow-occupied hypothesis (manure indicates occupancy to conspecifics and thereby reduces agonistic interactions) were supported, but results were not statistically significant. Our results also supported several predictions of the prey-attraction hypothesis. Pitfall traps at sampling sites with manure collected more arthropod biomass (of taxa common in the diet of burrowing owls) than pitfall traps at sampling sites without manure. Scattering behaviour of burrowing owls appears to function to attract arthropod prey, but may also signal occupancy of a burrow to conspecifics. ?? 2006 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Explore related subjects

Animal Behaviour Article

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

M. D. Smith, C.J. Conway. 2007. Use of mammal manure by nesting burrowing owls: a test of four functional hypotheses. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.05.012

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2025

Nest location and pheromone concentrations interact to influence female nest choice in sea lamprey

Animal communication is dynamic; factors such as signal attributes, signaller and receiver positioning, and environment can interactively influence information exchange. However, most research has focused on the signals and preferences while neglecting the broader context in which they function. Using sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus , we studied the effects of male signalling location on female nest choice. Male sea lamprey aggregate on spawning grounds in rivers where they build nests and release a sex pheromone to attract females. In controlled studies, females select nests with the highest relative concentration of pheromone, indicating some degree of mate choice following pheromone concentrations. In reality, however, the characteristics of pheromone signals detected by females (e.g. concentration) are shaped not only by the odour males emit but how they are transmitted downstream via river currents. We hypothesized that the effects of pheromone preferences on female nest choice also depend on the location of male nests. To test our hypothesis, we first surveyed the spatial distribution and use frequency of spawning nests in a wild population of sea lamprey. We then conducted instream behavioural assays using paired nest sites at two experimental locations and found that nest location and pheromone concentration impacted female nest choice. These behavioural results, along with indirect evidence for differences in pheromone plume dispersal at each site, suggest that signalling location and pheromone concentration may influence mate choice in sea lamprey. Although additional environmental factors likely influence natural mating decisions, our results highlight the importance of considering both signal attributes and the surrounding environment when studying communication networks.

Animal Behaviour↗

USGS2023

Linking vocal behaviours to habitat structure to create behavioural landscapes

The recent development of animal-borne sensors coupled with location data can provide insights into how individuals modify their behaviour with respect to specific habitat features. Animals can express a diverse array of behaviours as they navigate heterogenous landscapes, yet few studies have specifically evaluated the interaction of behaviours with habitat characteristics. We used a novel broadcast acoustic transmitter to investigate the interaction between vocal behaviours of an endemic Hawaiian thrush, the ʻōmaʻo, Myadestes obscurus , and habitat features across a naturally fragmented forest landscape. Through the development of behavioural landscape models that link specific vocalizations with space use, we found that the use of different vocalization types (calls, songs, whisper songs) were highly variable across the landscape but were associated with distinct habitat features. The likelihood of calls increased in an open lava matrix between forest patches, while whisper songs were more strongly associated with the dense interior areas of forest fragments. In contrast, the rate of ʻōmaʻo vocalizations overall decreased in the open lava matrix, suggesting that ʻōmaʻo may shift behaviours from territory defence to foraging as they transition through different habitats. Our study revealed context-specific changes in behaviour across ʻōmaʻo home ranges, including courtship, aggression and social interactions between individuals. Combining the use of a novel acoustic tool with automated radiotelemetry allowed us to overcome challenges associated with detection and analysis of variation in behaviour and resource selection across a highly heterogeneous landscape that would have been otherwise difficult to impossible.

Hawaii↗

USGS2019

Black-tailed prairie dog, Cynomys ludovicianus (Sciuridae), metapopulation response to novel sourced conspecific signals

Aggregation of territorial individuals within a species can be facilitated via conspecific signals, wherein settlement implies habitat suitability, ease of resource acquisition and/or increased predator detection. The black-tailed prairie dog is a colonial small mammal with alarm vocalizations that confer benefits via group vigilance against predators and increased foraging time. Although prairie dog alarm calls are relatively well understood, the information embedded in their jump-yip call, which includes both a distinct cry and a bodily gesture, remains less clear. We evaluated prairie dog behaviour in response to conspecific acoustic signals using playbacks of alarm and jump-yip calls at 26 sites in northeastern Wyoming, U.S.A. Recorded calls from an isolated colony were broadcast to a mean of five individuals per site, and behavioural responses were compared against uninfluenced behaviour and a control playback of ambient sounds. The alarm playback caused prairie dogs to increase vigilance 122% and decrease foraging time 23%, demonstrating prairie dogs will shift behaviour based on signals from individuals of an unfamiliar colony. However, the alarm call playback reduced frequency of the jump-yip behaviour only at colonies nearest the recording source. The jump-yip playback caused unfamiliar prairie dogs to display 339% more jump-yips than uninfluenced behaviour. The jump-yip playback did not alter recipients' foraging or vigilance behaviours relative to control treatments, suggesting that although prairie dogs can understand and reciprocate an unfamiliar, single modality signal, they may not shift other behaviours based on this stimulus. As such, the purpose and benefits of the jump-yip call remain unclear. Playback efficacy also had a nonlinear relationship with distance from recording source. Our work improves understanding of communication at the metapopulation level, examines the potential role of the jump-yip and provides insights for how conspecific signals might be used as a management tool.

Wyoming↗