Vigilance and Tail-wagging Behaviors in Wagtails
Date Issued
2007
Date
2007
Author(s)
Hsu, Bin-Yan
Abstract
Vigilance is a universal antipredator behavior. Animals could adjust their vigilance level according to the predation risk. Some covers in nature could provide hiding places for prey animals (protective cover), whereas some other covers provide nothing for prey animal to hide in but obscure their vision (obstructive cover). Thus the effects of cover on vigilance may be complex. Vigilance could also deter predator’s pursuit, because predators could benefit by attacking non-vigilant prey, and a conspicuous vigilance signal thus could evolve to convey the information of vigilance state to predators. The tail-wagging behavior in wagtails is suggested to be an honest signal of vigilance and serve pursuit-deterrent function. I hypothesized that the habitat could affect tail-wagging behavior through the adjusted vigilance and the purpose to communicate with undetected predators. I study three wintering species of wagtails on the riverine foraging habitats to test my hypotheses. The results show that vigilance in M. flava could be affected by river dike, but the large sample sizes are needed to be conclusive. The tail-wagging frequency in M. cinerea increases as scanning frequency increases, but it is not affected by habitat parameters. M. flava in the site with higher vigilance level show higher tail-wagging frequency, however, the tail-wagging frequency do not significantly associated with scanning frequency. The tail-wagging frequency of M. alba is independent with scanning frequency, but positively associate with the proportion of open area. Thus, the suggestion that tail-wagging signals the vigilance might not be universally applicable. The possibility that tail-wagging is just a passive response to any body movements can not be ruled out. The adaptive functions of tail-wagging behavior remain to be investigated further.
Subjects
animal signal
habitat obstruction
Motacilla
tail-wagging behavior
vigilance
wagtails
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