Salient eyes deter conspecific nest intruders in wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula)
Salient eyes deter conspecific nest intruders in wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula)
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DOI：
10.1098/rsbl.2013.1077
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发表时间：
2014-02-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Thornton, Alex
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Davidson, Gabrielle L.;Clayton, Nicola S.;Thornton, Alex
动物在遇到眼睛或类似眼睛的形状时通常会做出恐惧的反应。虽然在哺乳动物中已经记录了避免群体成员冲突时的凝视厌恶，但在非灵长类物种中，眼睛颜色在同种之间的相互作用中的重要性尚未得到研究。寒鸦（Corvus monedula）有近白色的虹彩，在它们黑色的羽毛的映衬下很显眼，从它们筑巢的洞穴外面看去也很明显。由于寒鸦会争夺巢穴，它们显眼的眼睛可能会作为一个警告信号，表明巢穴被占领，并阻止同种入侵。我们通过比较探矿者对仅显示明亮眼睛（BE）图像的巢箱、显示自然BE的寒鸦脸或显示黑眼睛的寒鸦脸的行为，测试了寒鸦的浅色彩虹色是否对探矿同种具有威慑作用。寒鸦面对BE是最有效的阻止鸟类与巢箱接触，而这两个BE条件减少了寒鸦花在接近图像的时间。我们认为，在寒鸦BE可能发挥作用，以防止同种竞争对手接近被占领的巢址。
Animals often respond fearfully when encountering eyes or eye-like shapes. Although gaze aversion has been documented in mammals when avoiding group-member conflict, the importance of eye coloration during interactions between conspecifics has yet to be examined in non-primate species. Jackdaws (Corvus monedula) have near-white irides, which are conspicuous against their dark feathers and visible when seen from outside the cavities where they nest. Because jackdaws compete for nest sites, their conspicuous eyes may act as a warning signal to indicate that a nest is occupied and deter intrusions by conspecifics. We tested whether jackdaws' pale irides serve as a deterrent to prospecting conspecifics by comparing prospectors' behaviour towards nest-boxes displaying images with bright eyes (BEs) only, a jackdaw face with natural BEs, or a jackdaw face with dark eyes. The jackdaw face with BEs was most effective in deterring birds from making contact with nest-boxes, whereas both BE conditions reduced the amount of time jackdaws spent in proximity to the image. We suggest BEs in jackdaws may function to prevent conspecific competitors from approaching occupied nest sites.