Data from: the flashy escape: support for dynamic flash colouration as anti-predator defence

Dynamic flash colouration is type of antipredator colouration where intermittently appearing colour patterns misdirect predator attacks by obscuring the precise location and trajectory of moving prey. Birds and butterflies with differing dorsoventral wing colouration or iridescent surface structures may potentially benefit from such effects. However, we lack an understanding of what makes for an effective dynamic flash colour design, and how much it benefits the carrier. Here, we test the effect of colour flashing using small passerine birds preying upon colourful virtual 'prey' stimuli on a touchscreen. We show that flashing colour patterns can induce greater error in targeting accuracy relative to similarly coloured static targets, but only when moving fast. Of the tested stimuli, green-to-blue flashing elicited the greatest targeting error at high speed, yet this stimulus was easiest to target when stationary. Our results support the idea that dynamic flash colouration can deflect predatory attacks but that the effect is likely to be speed-dependent.