Why are hawk alarm calls difficult for hawks to locate?

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Animals communicate by sending and receiving signals. For example, a mother dingo (Canis lupus dingo) can communicate certain types of information to her pups by using tactile signals conveyed through grooming. — Animal communication Animals communicate by sending and receiving signals. For example, a mother dingo (*Canis lupus dingo*) can communicate certain types of information to her pups by using tactile signals conveyed through grooming.

Hawk alarm calls are specifically designed to be difficult for hawks to locate because they consist of a single, relatively long, high-frequency whistle with a gradual onset and a gradual offset.1

In the context of animal communication, these signals function as "flee alarms." Unlike assembly alarms, which require the sender to be easily found to facilitate a group response, flee alarms are optimized to prevent the sender from being detected or localized by a predator. This specific acoustic structure serves as an effective survival strategy for small birds when hawks are flying overhead.1