Free-range domestic chickens can distinguish between different alarm calls of Japanese tits.

Abstract

Heterospecific eavesdropping of alarm information is an anti-predator adaptation in the wild as it improves the monitoring of shared predators and hence provides opportunities to avoid predators. Our current understanding of heterospecific eavesdropping information is based primarily on studies of bird, primate, or ungulate populations in the wild, whereas little is known regarding the ability of domesticated species to respond to alarm signals from wild individuals. Using sound playback experiments, we assessed the behavioral responses of free-range domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) in Hainan to alarm calls (test playback) and songs (control playback) of wild Japanese tits (Parus minor). The results revealed that free-range domestic chickens showed greater vigilance to the alarm calls of Japanese tits than to the songs of Japanese tits, especially their alarm calls for Siberian chipmunks (Tamias sibiricus). Furthermore, individual-foraging single chickens were significantly more vigilant than those foraging collectively in groups. Our findings suggest that free-range domestic chickens are as capable as wild birds in responding to heterospecific alarm calls and are likely to be able to distinguish between different types of heterospecific alarm calls.