Vocally mediated consensus decisions govern mass departures from jackdaw roosts
(2022) In Current Biology 32(10). p.455-456- Abstract
In the early morning, large groups of up to hundreds or even thousands of roosting birds, sometimes comprising the entire roost population, often take off together in sudden mass departures. These departures commonly occur in low-light conditions and structurally complex habitats where access to visual cues is likely to be restricted. Roosting birds are often highly vocal, leading us to hypothesise that vocalisations, which can propagate over large distances, could provide a means of enabling individuals to agree on when to depart — that is to establish a consensus1 — and thus coordinate the timing of mass movements. Investigations of the role of acoustic signals in coordinating collective decisions have been limited to... (More)
In the early morning, large groups of up to hundreds or even thousands of roosting birds, sometimes comprising the entire roost population, often take off together in sudden mass departures. These departures commonly occur in low-light conditions and structurally complex habitats where access to visual cues is likely to be restricted. Roosting birds are often highly vocal, leading us to hypothesise that vocalisations, which can propagate over large distances, could provide a means of enabling individuals to agree on when to depart — that is to establish a consensus1 — and thus coordinate the timing of mass movements. Investigations of the role of acoustic signals in coordinating collective decisions have been limited to honeybees2 and relatively small vertebrate groups (<50 individuals)3–5 and have rarely included experimental validation2,3. Here, by combining field recordings with a large-scale experimental manipulation, we show that jackdaws (Corvus monedula) use vocalisations to coordinate mass departures from winter roosts. This provides empirical evidence for vocally-mediated consensus decision-making in large vertebrate groups.
(Less)
- author
- Dibnah, Alex J.
; Herbert-Read, James E.
LU
; Boogert, Neeltje J. ; McIvor, Guillam E. ; Jolles, Jolle W. and Thornton, Alex
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022-05
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Current Biology
- volume
- 32
- issue
- 10
- pages
- 455 - 456
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85130387951
- pmid:35609539
- ISSN
- 0960-9822
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.032
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- e9888f5e-6a96-41f5-aea9-b55d94b1346f
- date added to LUP
- 2022-12-28 13:26:00
- date last changed
- 2025-01-25 23:39:53
@article{e9888f5e-6a96-41f5-aea9-b55d94b1346f, abstract = {{<p>In the early morning, large groups of up to hundreds or even thousands of roosting birds, sometimes comprising the entire roost population, often take off together in sudden mass departures. These departures commonly occur in low-light conditions and structurally complex habitats where access to visual cues is likely to be restricted. Roosting birds are often highly vocal, leading us to hypothesise that vocalisations, which can propagate over large distances, could provide a means of enabling individuals to agree on when to depart — that is to establish a consensus<sup>1</sup> — and thus coordinate the timing of mass movements. Investigations of the role of acoustic signals in coordinating collective decisions have been limited to honeybees<sup>2</sup> and relatively small vertebrate groups (<50 individuals)<sup>3–5</sup> and have rarely included experimental validation<sup>2</sup><sup>,</sup><sup>3</sup>. Here, by combining field recordings with a large-scale experimental manipulation, we show that jackdaws (Corvus monedula) use vocalisations to coordinate mass departures from winter roosts. This provides empirical evidence for vocally-mediated consensus decision-making in large vertebrate groups.</p>}}, author = {{Dibnah, Alex J. and Herbert-Read, James E. and Boogert, Neeltje J. and McIvor, Guillam E. and Jolles, Jolle W. and Thornton, Alex}}, issn = {{0960-9822}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{10}}, pages = {{455--456}}, publisher = {{Elsevier}}, series = {{Current Biology}}, title = {{Vocally mediated consensus decisions govern mass departures from jackdaw roosts}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.032}}, doi = {{10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.032}}, volume = {{32}}, year = {{2022}}, }