About This Project

Domestic cats are predators of small songbirds throughout the world. These birds change their foraging and communicative behavior when they detect cat predators. Theory suggests that the risk of such predators varies with predator behavior, however - a sleeping cat is not the same risk as an awake cat, for example. We propose a series of experiments with robotic cat models near feeders used by Carolina chickadees and tufted titmice, to determine the specific cues these birds use to assess risk.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Our laboratory has conducted and published several studies (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dosMt1QAAAAJ&hl=en) of chickadee and titmouse responses to head / face orientation of hawk, owl, cat, and snake predator models. Those earlier studies relied heavily on models that were not entirely realistic looking, and that could not be manipulated systematically from a distance. The proposed research would permit the careful manipulation - in real time - of cat model movement, including eyes opened and closed, head turning, and standing or sitting or lying down.

What is the significance of this project?

The proposed research will determine the extent to which these small songbirds attend to behavior of cats, which are lethal predators imposing severe negative impacts on songbird populations. The work will increase understanding of the function and mechanisms of complex communicative and anti-predator behavior. These studies will provide foundational information for subsequent work on the kinds of cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying risk assessment and sensitivity to predator cues. The proposed research will provide fundamental information about how anti-predator behavior emerges in relation to the physical and social environment, as well as the extent of individual variation that exists in songbirds.

What are the goals of the project?

We will follow the successful methodologies of our recent published studies (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dosMt1QAAAAJ&hl=en). We conduct experiments at feeders the birds are used to visiting as occasional and non-predictable food sources. We present stimuli near the feeders, and record foraging rates and calling behavior. With the proposed research, we will be able to adjust predator stimulus behavior remotely. We typically use within-subjects designs, comparing each flock's response to, say, eyes closed compared to eyes opened. We assess behavior of these birds when they occur in mixed-species flocks from early fall through the following early spring each year. Our planned studies will begin September 2016 and end February 2017.