Red-legged partridges perceive the scent of predators and alarm scents of an avian heterospecific

Abstract

A growing body of evidence suggests that birds can use olfactory cues to detect the presence of predators. We predicted that the ability to gather information about predator presence through chemical cues might be particularly important for ground-living and foraging bird species, since their main predators, namely mammals and reptiles, use chemical communication. In this context, we experimentally examined the role of olfaction in the nondomesticated, ground-living red-legged partridge, Alectoris rufa, in a natural and context-dependent situation. We tested how individuals responded to three different olfactory stimuli, which were presented in sand bath tubs: (1) a mammalian predator (ferret faeces), (2) an avian alarm scent (alarm secretion of the European hoopoe) and (3) a control (orange oil). As dependent variables we recorded side preferences and dustbathing activity. Red-legged partridges avoided the predator scent to the same extent as the alarm scent of the hoopoe, whereas orange oil scent did not affect side choice or dustbathing behaviour of individuals. Our results indicate that red-legged partridges avoid the scent of a predator as well as the alarm scent of an avian heterospecific. In regard to this, we provide the first indication that, in risk assessment, chemical cues, similar to avian alarm calls, may possibly act as a source of information between avian species.