During my last visit to the field, I had the opportunity of taking some city kids to the forest to learn about monkeys (kids from the landowners). During this visit we talk about the monkeys, their forest and how they live. During our talks, I asked some of the kids what other questions they have about the monkeys, what they would like to know about them. One of the questions that one of the kids asked is how monkeys communicate. So, in today’s post we are going to explore the different ways monkeys have to communicate between them.

As many other animals, monkeys use their senses to communicate, sometimes combining smell, sound, contact and visual clues. Some species use one or several at the same time. For example, the nocturnal monkeys use more scents and sound to communicate more than visual clues because they move in a dark environment at night.

Colombian squirrel monkeys, red howler monkeys, dusky titi monkeys and black-capped capuchins use a combination of sounds, visual displays, and scents to communicate between them and between groups.

Red howler and dusky titi monkeys emit loud sounds in the early mornings to tell other groups where they are. Those same sounds are also produced to tell solitary males or other groups that they are too close, and they need to move to another area because they are in their territory.

Black-capped capuchins emit different sounds to tell the other member of their groups that they see a possible danger. They even have different sounds for bird predators (e.g., eagles) or terrestrial predators (e.g. snakes, jaguar and other wild cats) and these sounds are also recognized by individuals of Colombian squirrel monkeys, because they sometimes form mixed groups of the two species.

Males of red howler, dusky titi, Colombian squirrel monkeys sometimes rub their neck on some branches to mark them. Scent are used also to detect when the females are ready to copulate.

All monkeys in the study area use grooming not only to clean their fur from ticks and other parasites. But also, to reinforce the relationships between members in the group. Dusky titi monkeys additionally twine their tails to reinforce their bond as a family, couple during resting. 

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