Escape and vocal responses of eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) to simulated aerial predator attack

The behaviours of eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) in response to aerial predators were studied in the field using trained kestrels (Falco sparverius) flying over a food patch where animals of known gender, age and burrow location categories were foraging. Their typical response was to flee toward a nearby refuge while producing a trill. After a few seconds, chipmunks usually emerged and started to produce long (but sometimes interrupted) series of chucks while facing the predator. Acoustical analysis showed that the trill consisted of a rapid series of usually high pitched and variable notes while most chucks consisted of two partially overlapping components differing mainly in frequency range. No differences were observed between individuals of different categories for most antipredator responses. Various observations suggest that the trill functions to startle the predator and that the chuck deters the predator from hunting in the area