# African drongos switch alarm calls to steal food from fleeing meerkats, field tests show

- Published: 2026-11-08 20:22 UTC
- Section: Life & Health › Biology & biochemistry
- Tags: fork-tailed drongo, Dicrurus adsimilis, false alarm calls, meerkats, vocal imitation, food theft in birds, animal communication, playback experiments
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-63b09bd6a31bbaa3207023f0_african_drongos_switch/

**Drongos mix real and false alarms and switch to a different imitated call when the old one stops working, according to recordings and field observation.**

![African drongos switch alarm calls to steal food from fleeing meerkats, field tests show](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/1cd05fdf644bd055.jpg)
*catracalivre.com.br*

The fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis), an African bird, can take food from other animals by giving alarm calls when no predator is present, according to catracalivre.com.br. A meerkat finds food, hears a warning and runs. When it realizes there was no predator, the food is already gone. [1] The behavior was documented in the field and tested with recordings. [1]

## How the false alarm works

The drongo follows meerkats and other species while they forage. When one of them finds prey, the bird gives a call similar to a threat warning and takes the food that is left behind during the flight. [1] In studies with meerkats and birds sharing the habitat, recordings of false alarms provoked defensive responses. The sounds could belong to the drongo's own species or imitate the calls of other animals. [1]

The strategy relies on partial trust. The drongo's warnings sometimes match real dangers, so a call that helps an animal escape a predator has value for species in the same environment. [1] If every alert were false, listeners could stop responding. By mixing honest and deceptive occasions, the bird keeps its chance when someone is handling food. [1] The authors do not need to attribute a human intention or a verbal plan to the bird to explain the effect. [1]

## Why the trick keeps working

A false alarm repeated too often loses its effect. Researchers observed that drongos changed the call they used after consecutive attempts, which preserved the chance of causing flight. [1] A study published in 2014 described this flexibility as a way to escape the loss of effectiveness of a deceptive signal. [1] The bird does not have to invent a new sound: switching between sounds from its repertoire already changes how the listener reacts. [1]

Experiments indicated a reduced reaction to a repeated false warning and a recovery of the response when the drongo varied the sound. [1] Ignoring all calls would be risky for the victims, because some announce real predators. [1]

Not every drongo vocalization is a fraud. The species also warns of genuine threats, and the same sequence is not used by all individuals. [1] A single bird calling near a meerkat is not enough to conclude that theft occurred, so the research compares situations and responses to demonstrate the mechanism. [1]

## Sources

1. [catracalivre.com.br](https://catracalivre.com.br/noticias/alguns-passaros-conseguem-imitar-chamados-de-perigo-para-assustar-outros-animais-e-roubar-alimentos-sem-precisar-enfrentar-seus-donos)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-63b09bd6a31bbaa3207023f0_african_drongos_switch/