Predation risk associated with group singing in a neotropical wood-quail

Decades of fruitful research on the study of vocal communication in birds have provided surprisingly little evidence of a predation cost associated with singing. In this paper, I report the first observational evidence of a risk of predation associated with chorusing in a Neotropical wood-quail. Black-breasted Wood-Quail (Odontophorus leucolaemus) live in groups year-round and produce coordinated group choruses or duets. Three mammalian and two avian species of predators were attracted to playbacks of recorded wood-quail choruses that I used during population Surveys and capture attempts from March to August, 2000-2002. The trade-off between signaling and predation risk may be an important force in the evolution of chorusing in New World quails.