animal communication: Media

Videos

Observe an impala herd communicate via grooming, freezing reflexes, prancing, and sprinting
Impala (Aepyceros melampus) communicate by using a variety of signals that...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Observe the aggressive social behaviour of territorial perciform jawfish fighting over burrow proximity
Two jawfish (family Opistognathidae) engaging in a territorial dispute.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
How do cicadas inspire new forms of music?
Learn about cicadas and how their songs inspire humans to make music.
Video: © World Science Festival (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Images

Animals communicate by sending and receiving signals. For example, a mother dingo...
© Jean-Paul Ferrero/Ardea London
Cactus wrens (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) sing to communicate with...
Mark Wagner
Wolves are social animals, and they thus require a large repertoire of signals to...
© Enn Li Photography—Moment/Getty Images
Blue arrow-poison frogs (Dendrobates azureus) can communicate through sound...
© kikkerdirk/Fotolia
Katydids use several different forms of communication. One of these forms is called...
E.S. Ross
Bats have special resonating structures attached to their sound-producing organs...
Animals Animals/SuperStock
Fireflies such as those of the genus Photinus produce their own light as...
Werner W. Schulz
African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana)
Elephants communicate by using low-frequency sound waves that can be detected several...
© Robert Hardholt/Dreamstime.com
Whales such as humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae) communicate by producing...
Al Giddings/Images Unlimited
water jelly (Aequorea victoria)
The medusa stage of the bioluminescent water jelly or crystal jelly (Aequorea...
Denise Allen
Crickets have eardrums on their legs that are connected by tubes to breathing holes...
© sandra standbridge—Moment/Getty Images
Pheromone
Red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta), as well as other ant species,...
Scott Bauer—ARS/USDA
Sharks such as hammerheads have sensitive structures called electroreceptors embedded...
John Bazemore/AP Images
Thomson's gazelles (Gazella thomsoni) use a ritualized alert signal to communicate...
E.R. Degginger/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
long-eared owl (Asio otus)
A long-eared owl (Asio otus), its feathers spread in an aggressive display.
Jane Burton/Bruce Coleman Ltd.
Raggiana bird-of-paradise
A male Raggiana bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea raggiana) displaying its colourful...
Baiyer River Sanctuary, New Guinea; photograph, Tom McHugh—The National Audubon Society Collection/Photo Researchers
A chick in a group of nestlings may exaggerate its need for food in order to gain...
Jeff Foott/Bruce Coleman Inc.
Rival European red deer stags (Cervus elaphus) engaging in ritualized fighting...
Stefan Meyers GDT/Ardea London
The size of the black throat patch of the male house sparrow (Passer domesticus)...
© Steve Byland/Dreamstime.com
The elongated tail feathers of the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) are an...
Mdf

Audio

howling
Wolves howling.
Audio clip of a frog.