Birds that ‘cry wolf’

Abstract

Reports of animals using alarm calls deceptively are rare (refs 1–3 and R. Cheney and D. Seyfarth, personal communication in rf. 4). Here I have studied two species of flycatching birds in Amazonia, Lanio versicolor and Thamnomanes schistogynus, which lead flocks of mixed species in the canopy and understorey of the forest, respectively, and act as sentinels, giving alarm calls at the approach of bird-eating hawks. These two species feed to a large extent on the insects flushed out by the foraging of the rest of the flock. My observations suggest that L. versicolor and T. schistogynus use the predator alarm call deceptively to distract other birds, thereby increasing their own chances of capturing arthropods. This result suggests that deception among animals may be more widespread than is generally assumed.