Flash behaviors protect prey from avian predators

Abstract

It has been proposed that flash behaviors, defined as the transient display of conspicuous color patches during the escape, serve as an antipredator defense in camouflaged prey. While recent studies in humans have demonstrated the effectiveness of flash behaviors in improving the survival of artificial prey, it remains unclear whether these benefits also arise in more natural systems involving nonhuman predators. This study investigated the adaptive significance of flash behaviors using chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus) as predators and virtual prey. Our experiments revealed that prey employing flash behaviors consistently enhanced their survival rate compared with nonflashing prey. Additionally, prey with nonconspicuous escape colors, though distinct from their resting colors, also showed a higher survival rate than nonflashing prey, challenging the conventional belief that conspicuous colors are required for search interference. An interplay between prey size and flash behaviors in enhancing survival was evident, with larger prey benefiting more than smaller prey. We found no evidence to suggest that being hidden before initiating an escape confers a survival advantage to flashing prey compared with being visible before the escape. This study sheds light on the adaptive benefits of flash behaviors against natural predators and contributes to our understanding of the widespread occurrence of hidden color signals in camouflaged prey. We encourage further studies to explore the effectiveness of remaining hidden in flashing prey when confronted with natural predators, as well as how predators might learn to overcome the deception of flash behaviors.