Abstract
Ambient noise can affect the availability of acoustic information to animals, altering both foraging and vigilance behaviour. Using captive zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata, we examined the effect of ambient broadband noise on foraging decisions. Birds were given a choice between foraging in a quiet area where conspecific calls could be heard or a noisy area where these calls would be masked. Birds foraging in noisy areas spent a significantly more time vigilant than those in quiet areas, resulting in less efficient foraging. Despite this there was no significant difference in the amount of time spent in the two noise regimes. However there did appear a preference for initially choosing quiet patches during individuals’ second trial. These results emphasise how masking noise can influence the foraging and anti-predation behaviour of animals, which is particularly relevant as anthropogenic noise becomes increasingly prevalent in the natural world.
Highlights
Humans have dramatically altered the temporal, spectral, and spatial aspects of the world’s soundscape [1,2,3,4,5,6]. These anthropogenic noises are generally characterised by higher amplitudes and lower spectral frequencies than those typically found in nature, which reduces the ability of many animals to distinguish signals and cues from background noise [7, 8]
Many animals utilise acoustic cues and signals as sources of information while carrying out a variety of behaviours. These can include the vocalisations of conspecifics whilst searching for a mate [9] or the sound of approaching predators when attempting to avoid predation [10]
Animals have been shown to avoid noisy areas when making breeding habitat decisions [36, 37], but few studies exist examining how noise affects choice of foraging location. We examine this using a captive population of zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata
Summary
Humans have dramatically altered the temporal, spectral, and spatial aspects of the world’s soundscape [1,2,3,4,5,6] These anthropogenic noises are generally characterised by higher amplitudes and lower spectral frequencies than those typically found in nature, which reduces the ability of many animals to distinguish signals and cues from background noise [7, 8]. Many animals utilise acoustic cues and signals as sources of information while carrying out a variety of behaviours These can include the vocalisations of conspecifics whilst searching for a mate [9] or the sound of approaching predators when attempting to avoid predation [10]. The disruption of an animal’s ability to receive cues and signals by anthropogenic noise might have significant impacts on an animal’s behaviour
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