Animal communication

Introduction
Senders and receivers
Signal production
Signal transmission
Signal reception
Costs and benefits of communication
Evolution of signals
Signal design rules
Honesty and deceit

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

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.

Cactus wrens (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) sing to communicate with other members of their species.

Observe an impala herd communicate via grooming, freezing reflexes, prancing, and sprinting

Wolves are social animals, and they thus require a large repertoire of signals to communicate different kinds of information.

Blue arrow-poison frogs (Dendrobates azureus) can communicate through sound production. Their bright colour also serves as a warning signal to predators.

Closeup of a female fork-tailed bush katydid, Scudderia furcata, showing its long antennae and curved ovipositor, perched on a piece of weathered wood.

Bats have special resonating structures attached to their sound-producing organs that select specific sound frequencies. This enables them to use different sound signals in different contexts.

Common Eastern firefly (Photinus) with a black body, yellow-edged wing covers, and a reddish area behind its head, perched on a green blade of grass.

At a Glance

animal communication summary

Related Questions

How can a female gypsy moth attract males from thousands of metres away?
How can birds and honeybees see colours that humans cannot see?
How do alarm pheromones differ from trail-marking pheromones?
How do animal signals help receivers decide whether to fight or flee?
How do animals change the rhythm or pitch of their sounds?
How do animals communicate with one another?
How do ants use chemical signals to recruit colony members for defense?
How do ants use pheromones to mark trails to food?
How do courtship signals help animals coordinate mating?
How do crickets and katydids make sounds by rubbing their body parts together?
How do dolphins use echolocation when water is dark or murky?
How do echoes affect animal communication in forests?
How do fireflies and deep-sea animals produce light for communication?
How do flee alarms differ from assembly alarms in birds?
How do frogs, lions, and birds produce sounds with airflow?
How do honeybee dances communicate the direction and distance of food sources?
How do jays and parrots produce blue and green feather colours without blue or green pigments?
How do pheromone mixtures help animals recognize their own species or particular individuals?
How do pheromones help animals communicate through chemicals?
How do spiders, water striders, and leafhoppers use vibrations to communicate?
How do visual signals stand out against an animal’s background?
How does queen substance affect worker honeybees in a colony?
How is an animal signal different from an accidental sound or movement?
What have studies of Washoe, Sarah, and Kanzi shown about communication in chimpanzees?
What kinds of signals do animals use to share information?
Why are bird calls in forests often longer and less rapidly modulated than bird calls in grasslands?
Why are hawk alarm calls difficult for hawks to locate?
Why can low-frequency sounds indicate that an animal is large?
Why do animals sometimes climb or fly above the ground before calling?
Why do animals use communication when making decisions about food, danger, and mates?
Why do moths fly into the wind when following a pheromone trail?
Why is electrical communication in freshwater fish limited to short distances?
Why must alarm pheromones disappear quickly from the environment?
What are the basic functional systems of animals?

Science Biology Life Cycle, Processes & Properties

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External Websites

The Royal Society Publishing - Proceedings B - A systems approach to animal communication

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Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

animal communication - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
animal communication - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Animal communication

biology

Written by

Jack W. Bradbury

Professor of Ornithology, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Jack W. BradburyAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 6, 2026 •History

Animal communication, process by which one animal provides information that other animals can incorporate into their decision making. The vehicle for the provision of this information is called a signal. The signal may be a sound, colour pattern, posture, movement, electrical discharge, touch, release of an odorant, or some combination of these mediums. Animals face daily decisions about how to behave. Choices can be as simple as a sea anemone deciding when to expand its...

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