Great Tit

Great tits demonstrate frequency-dependent dishonest alarm calling. Subordinate males sometimes produce false alarm calls when dominant males approach food, scaring the dominant away so the subordinate can feed. However, false alarm frequency remains below 5% because higher rates destroy the system's utility - if alarm calls are unreliable, individuals stop responding, and genuine threats go unheeded.

This illustrates the self-limiting nature of alarm deception: the strategy only works when rare.