Traffic noise reduces birds’ response to alarm calls

Pollution can take many forms — including noise. Excess noise in the environment from sources such as traffic can have negative effects on animals that rely on sound to communicate and get information about their surroundings. A new study shows that traffic noise makes birds less responsive to alarm calls that would otherwise alert them to dangers such as predators according to Science daily.

 Megan Gall and Jacob Damsky tested how traffic noise affected the reactions of Black-capped Chickadees and Tufted Titmice to titmouse alarm calls, which warn birds that a predator is nearby. Using speakers set up near feeding platforms baited with bird seed, they recorded the birds’ responses to three different recordings — alarm calls alone, traffic noise alone, and a combination of the two.

The traffic noise didn’t deter the birds from feeding, but five times as many birds approached speakers when the researchers played alarm calls on their own compared with when traffic sounds were added.

“There has been lots of work on how anthropogenic noise affects vocal production, but much less on the response of animals to signals in the presence of noise,” says Gall. “Additionally, a lot of this work focuses on song, but we were interested in how noise might affect responses to an anti-predator vocalization. These vocalizations are evoked by the presence of a predator and so are closely linked in time with a particular stimulus.”

The study’s results suggest that traffic noise can reduce birds’ ability to hear an alarm call, potentially increasing their vulnerability to predators. “Gall and Damsky’s experiment helps us understand how human-caused noise can interfere with the transfer of information among animals in social groups,” according Rindy Anderson, an expert in vocal communication in birds who was not involved with the study. “It’s interesting that the birds’ foraging behavior was not affected under any of the playback conditions, which suggests that the behavioral effects were due to the call playbacks being masked by noise, rather than the noise being simply aversive.”

 

N.H.Kh

 

You might also like
Latest news
Syria calls on UN member states to take firm measures and stop Israeli attacks Israeli aggression targets civilian sites south of Damascus Russian Trade Representation in Syria holds a sports marathon to celebrate National Unity Day in Rus... Settlers burn Palestinian lands and homes east of Ramallah Lebanese resistance targets Meron base, settlements and gatherings of the Israeli enemy 43,374 martyrs since the beginning of the Israeli war of extermination on the Gaza Strip Three martyrs in Israeli air raids on southern Lebanon Syrian film (Salma) at Cairo International Film Festival Recreational activities and psychological support in Homs for children arriving from Lebanon Pezeshkian: Iran is facing an economic war to weaken it Palestinian Foreign Ministry: The occupation crimes in the West Bank are part of the war of extermin... The Syria Trust for Development in cooperation with the Finnish Relief Organization: In the Aleppo c... A Palestinian man was shot by the occupation forces near Bethlehem Syrian Postal Corporation issues a commemorative stamp on the occasion of “National Environment Day” The beginning of the winter vegetable season  in Sweida with a plan of 2890 dunums Palestinian Presidency: The world must take concrete steps on the ground against Israel With the participation of 20 Artisans, the Autumn 2024 Exhibition kicks off at Baniyas Culture Cente... Minister of Endowments discusses with Vice President of the Russian Pyatigorsk State University the ... Martyrs and wounded as a result of the occupation's bombing of Al-Nuseirat camp Lebanese National  resistance targets 4 settlements and an Israeli air base