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Disturbance of wildlife by ecotourism has become a major concern in the last decades. In the Mediterranean, sea‐based tourism and related recreational activities are increasing rapidly, especially within marine protected areas (MPAs) hosting emblematic biodiversity. We investigated the impact of ecotourism in the Scandola MPA (UNESCO World Heritage Site, Corsica island), on the population of a conservation...
Delayed plumage maturation (DPM) is the delayed acquisition of an adult color and pattern of plumage until after the first potential breeding period. Among the hypotheses proposed to explain DPM, the female mimicry hypothesis (FMH) has received considerable attention. FMH predicts that after‐second‐calendar‐year (ASY) males should attack ASY males more than second‐calendar‐year (SY) males and females,...
Antipredator behaviours and the ability to appropriately assess predation risk contribute to increased fitness. Predator avoidance can be costly; however, so we expect prey to most strongly avoid predators that pose the greatest risk (i.e., prey should show threat sensitivity). For invasive species, effectively assessing the relative risk posed by predators in the new environment may help them establish...
The cover image is based on the Research Paper Delayed plumage maturation in green‐backed flycatchers (Ficedula elisae): An evidence of female mimicry, by Gong Chen et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.12825.
Inter‐individual variation in behaviour has been the focus of much recent work, yet the underlying mechanisms that cause and maintain this variation are unclear. It has been proposed that consistent individual differences in metabolism could be related to inter‐individual variation in behaviour and development throughout life. Here, we tested this idea in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), by...
Recent work on animal personalities has shown that individuals within populations often differ consistently in various types of behaviour and that many of these behaviours correlate among individuals to form behavioural syndromes. Individuals of certain species have also been shown to differ in their rate of behavioural innovation in arriving at novel solutions to new and existing problems (e.g.,...
The cover image, by Aleksandra Jakubowska and Tomasz S. Osiejuk, is based on the Research Paper Soft songs in male ortolan buntings are used in an aggressive context but are not an aggressive signal, DOI: 10.1111/eth.12758. Photo credit: Tomasz S. Osiejuk.
Many bird species produce low‐amplitude acoustic signals that have been poorly studied in comparison with loud, broadcast songs used for mate attraction and repelling rivals. In some birds, these soft signals were found to be emitted in an antagonistic context and were the most reliable predictor of a subsequent physical attack. The function of this signal is poorly understood, and several hypotheses...
Sensing the geomagnetic field, called magnetoreception, might be a helpful tool for an animal to orientate and navigate in its environment. Although several rodent species are known to be magnetosensitive, detailed insights into this sensory ability are rare and the underlying mechanism in mammals is still unknown. The magnetic sense of the Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus) expresses a learned...
Red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii, a widespread invasive alien crayfish, represents a serious threat for several freshwater species, including amphibians, which are declining at a global scale. As a shared coevolutionary history is the main factor determining the emergence of antipredator responses, Anuran tadpoles may not be able to cope effectively with this introduced predator. We performed...
Individual variability in animal movement behaviour is well documented for many species. However, it remains unclear whether this variability reflects genetic variation, environmental variation or a combination of the two. Here, we conduct a cross‐fostering experiment with the aim of investigating the role of these two components in movement patterns during the post‐fledging dependence period and...
The evolution and maintenance of female ornamentation has attracted increasing attention, because the previous explanation, that is a non‐functional copy of functional male ornamentation, seems insufficient to explain female ornamentation. A post‐mating sexual selection, differential allocation, may be more common than pre‐mating sexual selection, but few studies have investigated differential allocation...
Here, we report an observation of a Eurasian nuthatch Sitta europaea foraging with a tool in a public park in Greater London, UK. This record is of significance, as it provides the first photographic evidence (to our knowledge) of nuthatch tool use, reveals an unusually wide phylogenetic and geographic distribution of tool behaviour within the Sittidae, and constitutes a rare example of animal tool...
Duets are a jointly produced signal where two or more individuals coordinate their vocalizations by overlapping or alternating their songs. Duets are used in a wide array of contexts within partnerships, ranging from territory defence to pair bond maintenance. It has been proposed that pairs that coordinate their songs might also better coordinate other activities, including nest building, parental...
Personality traits and behavioural profiles are generally assumed to be stable in adulthood. Yet, it has been hypothesised that animals should cope with cyclical fluctuations by adjusting both single behaviours and suites of behaviour. Photoperiod is well known to induce hormonal and physiological changes, and these changes can in turn affect personality traits and behavioural profiles. This study...
In oscines, male song stimulates female reproduction and females are known to adjust both their sexual preferences and their maternal investment according to song quality. Female domestic canaries are especially responsive to wide frequency bandwidth (4 kHz) male songs emitted with a high‐repetition syllable rate and low minimal frequencies (1 kHz). We previously showed that low‐frequency urban noise...
Observer presence can bias behavioural studies of animals in both the wild and the laboratory. Despite existing evidence for significant observer effects across several taxa, little is known about the minimum periods of acclimation that should precede behavioural observations. To date, most studies either do not report any acclimation periods or include a non‐specific period without empirically quantifying...
Previous studies have shown that zebra finch females copy the mate choice of other females by choosing a mate of the same phenotype as the one chosen by another female (model). Little is known about the influence of the model female on the mate choice of the observing female. Therefore, we investigated the role of the model female in mate‐choice copying by manipulating her phenotype. Test females...
In animal communication, signal loudness is often ignored and seldom measured. We used a playback experiment to examine the role of vocal loudness (i.e., sound pressure level) in sibling to sibling communication of nestling barn owls Tyto alba. In this species, siblings vocally negotiate among each other for priority access to parental food resources. Call rate and call duration play key roles in...
Females are often subjected to unwanted mating advances from males. Such advances can be costly to both parties. The short‐term costs of harassment to females have been widely explored in the literature; however, few studies have measured the direct fitness costs. Moreover, male costs are seldom considered. Conventional wisdom would lead us to hypothesise that sexual harassment is costly; thus, when...
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