Superb fairy-wrens respond more to alarm calls from mate and kin compared to unrelated individuals

Abstract

Lay SummaryIndividual discrimination can influence social behaviors. Here, we show that superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus), a cooperative bird species, have individually distinct mobbing alarm calls and that receivers discriminated between 2 unfamiliar individuals using mobbing alarm calls alone. Superb fairy-wrens also responded differently to playback of calls from their mate and kin versus individuals from another population.