#ISTC20 #Sesh8 I'm a PhD candidate exploring #shorebird communication across the eggshell in Melbourne, Australia. Some avian embryos can begin calling late in incubation and can communicate with parents through the eggshellHave a listen to these embryonic calls, below!

#ISTC20 #Sesh8 Visual egg and nest crypsis is a common shorebird defence strategy but some predators may use embryonic vocalisations as an acoustic cue to locate these hard to find nests

#ISTC20 #Sesh8 We know that shorebird hatchlings rely on acoustic crypsis, hiding and becoming silent in the presence of a predator So, could this defence strategy begin prenatally and do embryos cease calling when exposed to signals that suggest a predator is nearby?

#ISTC20 #Sesh8 To investigate this, I conducted a playback experiment examining prenatal acoustic discrimination. Late term eggs of #RedcappedPlovers and #MaskedLapwings were exposed to a range of pre-recorded bird calls for 3 minutes while I documented embryonic calling

#ISTC20 #Sesh8 For both species, embryos called less in response to predator calls compared to white noise (control), whereas neither parental alarm nor benign bird calls influenced embryonic calling rate (manuscript in review)

#ISTC20 #Sesh8 Embryos appear to display anti-predator crypsis even before they hatch, demonstrating their ability to discern predator calls from their surroundings and change their behaviour.

Thank you for listening and please feel free to ask me any questions!