Is tail wagging in white wagtails, Motacilla alba, an honest signal of vigilance?
Section snippets
Data Collection
The study was carried out in the vicinity of Husum (54°28′N, 09°03′E), Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany near to the North Sea coast, where large areas are covered by agricultural fields, grassland habitats and salt marshes (totalling approximately 150 km2). I collected data during the postbreeding season between 18 August and 8 September 2004. I visited many sites over 3 weeks and observed and videotaped wagtails. I made observations from a distance where there was no obvious influence on
Results
During feeding, wagtails wagged their tails 0.04–1.78 times/s ( = 0.52 ± 0.03, N = 81; untransformed data) and wagging rate differed between individuals in the three plots (plot 1: 0.47 ± 0.08 wags/s, variance 0.10–0.76, N = 8; plot 2: 0.55 ± 0.08 wags/s, variance 0.18–0.92, N = 11; plot 3: 0.47 ± 0.09 wags/s, variance 0.05–1.78, N = 22). Based on the total sample, adult and juvenile wagtails did not differ in tail-wagging frequency during feeding or preening (independent samples t test: preening: t18 = −1.236; P =
Discussion
I found no difference between adults and juveniles in tail wagging but a difference between feeding and preening, both in the matched-pair comparison and in the independent data set. Furthermore, scanning, but not pecking, was positively correlated with wagging.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Will Cresswell and an anonymous referee for their comments that significantly improved the manuscript.
References (46)
Alertness signalling in two rail species
Animal Behaviour
(1993)- et al.
Behavioural response to human disturbance: a matter of choice?
Animal Behaviour
(2004) - et al.
Does the thermal environment influence vigilance behavior in dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis)? An approach using standard operative temperature
Journal of Thermal Biology
(2001) The functions of stotting in Thompson's gazelles: some tests of the predictions
Animal Behaviour
(1986)- et al.
Adaptive significance of antipredator behaviour in artiodactyls
Animal Behaviour
(2004) - et al.
Does an opportunistic predator preferentially attack nonvigilant prey?
Animal Behaviour
(2003) - et al.
Visual perception and social foraging in birds
Trends in Ecology and Evolution
(2004) Pursuit-deterrent signals: communication between prey and predator
Trends in Ecology and Evolution
(1991)Vigilance and group size: early studies, the edge effect, secondary defences, the double advantage trade-off and the future
Behavioural Processes
(2003)Honest signalling during prey–predator interactions in the lizard Anolis cristatellus
Animal Behaviour
(1999)
Back to the basics of antipredatory vigilance: can nonvigilant animals detect attack?
Animal Behaviour
The effects of habitat on the vigilance of shorebirds: is visibility important?
Animal Behaviour
Variation in badge size in male house sparrows, Passer domesticus: evidence for status signalling
Animal Behaviour
Coots Fulica atra reduce their vigilance under increased competition
Behavioural Processes
Why individual vigilance declines as group size increases
Animal Behaviour
Pipits and Wagtails of Europe, Asia and North America
White wagtail Motacilla alba and black-backed wagtail Motacilla lugens
Birds of North America
Vigilance, flock size, and flock geometry: information gathering by evening grosbeaks (Aves, Fringillidae)
Ethology
Principles of Animal Communication
Ecological factors influencing the occurrence of ‘flash marks’ in wading birds
Functional Ecology
On the evidence for a “pursuit deterrent” function of alarm signals of swamphens
American Naturalist
Song as a pursuit-deterrent signal, and its occurrence relative to other anti-predation behaviours of skylark (Alauda arvensis) on attack by merlins (Falco columbaris)
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Cited by (23)
Dishonest 'preemptive' pursuit-deterrent signal? Why the turquoise-browed motmot wags its tail before feeding nestlings
2007, Animal BehaviourCitation Excerpt :Thus, it is possible that the prefeeding wag display is currently maintained by selection. If the prefeeding wag display successfully deters predators, then the display would best be categorized as a dishonest, preemptive, pursuit-deterrent signal (also see Spitznagel 1996; Randler 2006). The prefeeding wag display may function similarly to the predator-elicited wag display, but in this context, the signal would dishonestly announce that a predator has been detected.
Ground squirrel tail-flag displays alter both predatory strike and ambush site selection behaviours of rattlesnakes
2012, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological SciencesOutstanding issues in the study of antipredator defenses
2023, Ecology and EvolutionReplacement of rectrices by wintering White Wagtails: an experiment to examine effects of sex, age, and body condition
2022, Journal of Field Ornithology