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Landing force reveals new form of motion-induced sound camouflage in a wild predator

Kim Schalcher Orcid Logo, Estelle Milliet, Robin Séchaud, Roman Bühler Orcid Logo, Bettina Almasi, Simon Potier, Paolo Becciu Orcid Logo, Alexandre Roulin Orcid Logo, Emily Shepard Orcid Logo

eLife, Volume: 12

Swansea University Author: Emily Shepard Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.7554/elife.87775.3

Abstract

Predator-prey arms races have led to the evolution of finely tuned disguise strategies. While the theoretical benefits of predator camouflage are well established, no study has yet been able to quantify its consequences for hunting success in natural conditions. We used high-resolution movement data...

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Published in: eLife
ISSN: 2050-084X
Published: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2024
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69484
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last_indexed 2025-06-14T04:53:45Z
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spelling 2025-06-13T14:37:16.2133530 v2 69484 2025-05-09 Landing force reveals new form of motion-induced sound camouflage in a wild predator 54729295145aa1ea56d176818d51ed6a 0000-0001-7325-6398 Emily Shepard Emily Shepard true false 2025-05-09 BGPS Predator-prey arms races have led to the evolution of finely tuned disguise strategies. While the theoretical benefits of predator camouflage are well established, no study has yet been able to quantify its consequences for hunting success in natural conditions. We used high-resolution movement data to quantify how barn owls (Tyto alba) conceal their approach when using a sit-and-wait strategy. We hypothesized that hunting barn owls would modulate their landing force, potentially reducing noise levels in the vicinity of prey. Analysing 87,957 landings by 163 individuals equipped with GPS tags and accelerometers, we show that barn owls reduce their landing force as they approach their prey, and that landing force predicts the success of the following hunting attempt. Landing force also varied with the substrate, being lowest on man-made poles in field boundaries. The physical environment, therefore, affects the capacity for sound camouflage, providing an unexpected link between predator-prey interactions and land use. Finally, hunting strike forces in barn owls were the highest recorded in any bird, relative to body mass, highlighting the range of selective pressures that act on landings and the capacity of these predators to modulate their landing force. Overall, our results provide the first measurements of landing force in a wild setting, revealing a new form of motion-induced sound camouflage and its link to hunting success. Journal Article eLife 12 eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2050-084X 24 7 2024 2024-07-24 10.7554/elife.87775.3 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee This study was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grants no. 31003A_173178). 2025-06-13T14:37:16.2133530 2025-05-09T12:49:26.7733822 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Kim Schalcher 0000-0003-0719-2765 1 Estelle Milliet 2 Robin Séchaud 3 Roman Bühler 0000-0002-4883-4923 4 Bettina Almasi 5 Simon Potier 6 Paolo Becciu 0000-0003-2145-6667 7 Alexandre Roulin 0000-0003-1940-6927 8 Emily Shepard 0000-0001-7325-6398 9 69484__34221__7f7f49d1fc5a45c2a39cf145213d4fe0.pdf 69484.pdf 2025-05-09T12:52:16.4497876 Output 14867923 application/pdf Version of Record true Copyright Schalcher et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Landing force reveals new form of motion-induced sound camouflage in a wild predator
spellingShingle Landing force reveals new form of motion-induced sound camouflage in a wild predator
Emily Shepard
title_short Landing force reveals new form of motion-induced sound camouflage in a wild predator
title_full Landing force reveals new form of motion-induced sound camouflage in a wild predator
title_fullStr Landing force reveals new form of motion-induced sound camouflage in a wild predator
title_full_unstemmed Landing force reveals new form of motion-induced sound camouflage in a wild predator
title_sort Landing force reveals new form of motion-induced sound camouflage in a wild predator
author_id_str_mv 54729295145aa1ea56d176818d51ed6a
author_id_fullname_str_mv 54729295145aa1ea56d176818d51ed6a_***_Emily Shepard
author Emily Shepard
author2 Kim Schalcher
Estelle Milliet
Robin Séchaud
Roman Bühler
Bettina Almasi
Simon Potier
Paolo Becciu
Alexandre Roulin
Emily Shepard
format Journal article
container_title eLife
container_volume 12
publishDate 2024
institution Swansea University
issn 2050-084X
doi_str_mv 10.7554/elife.87775.3
publisher eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 1
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description Predator-prey arms races have led to the evolution of finely tuned disguise strategies. While the theoretical benefits of predator camouflage are well established, no study has yet been able to quantify its consequences for hunting success in natural conditions. We used high-resolution movement data to quantify how barn owls (Tyto alba) conceal their approach when using a sit-and-wait strategy. We hypothesized that hunting barn owls would modulate their landing force, potentially reducing noise levels in the vicinity of prey. Analysing 87,957 landings by 163 individuals equipped with GPS tags and accelerometers, we show that barn owls reduce their landing force as they approach their prey, and that landing force predicts the success of the following hunting attempt. Landing force also varied with the substrate, being lowest on man-made poles in field boundaries. The physical environment, therefore, affects the capacity for sound camouflage, providing an unexpected link between predator-prey interactions and land use. Finally, hunting strike forces in barn owls were the highest recorded in any bird, relative to body mass, highlighting the range of selective pressures that act on landings and the capacity of these predators to modulate their landing force. Overall, our results provide the first measurements of landing force in a wild setting, revealing a new form of motion-induced sound camouflage and its link to hunting success.
published_date 2024-07-24T05:27:04Z
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