Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How do hormones affect mobbing calls in male birds during the breeding season?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Avoidance behaviour
Cat fleeing by upward climbing.
During the breeding season, male hormonesāspecifically androgensāinduce the performance of new mobbing calls in many male passerine birds, such as the chaffinch, as well as in some other birds like the farmyard cock.1
It remains uncertain whether this hormonal influence is specific to the vocalization itself or if the hormones trigger a broader change in the bird's general responsiveness to frightening stimuli. This behavior is a component of avoidance behaviour, which can also be facilitated by the adrenocorticotropic hormone in many animals.1