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Development of auditory sensitivity in the barn owl

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Abstract

Adult barn owl hearing is acute, but development of this sense is not well understood. We, therefore, measured auditory brainstem responses in barn owls from before the onset of hearing (posthatch day 2, or P2) to adulthood (P69). The first consistent responses were detected at P4 for 1 and 2 kHz, followed by responses to 0.5 and 4 kHz at P9, and 5 kHz at P13. Sensitivity to higher frequencies increased with age, with responses to 12 kHz appearing about 2 months after hatching, once the facial ruff was mature. Therefore, these altricial birds achieve their sensitivity to sound during a prolonged period of development, which coincides with maturation of the skull and facial ruff (Haresign and Moiseff in Auk 105:699–705, 1988).

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Dr. E. Brittan-Powell for the help with calibration and ABR recording, and Dr. E. Smith for help with equipment, speaker setup, and calibration. This research was sponsored by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders (NIDCD) Grant DC-000436 (CEC). Recordings from owls were performed in concordance with the NIH Guidelines for Animal Research and were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of Maryland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience and Cognitive Sciences Program, Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Anna Kraemer

  2. College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Caitlin Baxter

  3. Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Alayna Hendrix

  4. Department of Biology, University of Maryland College, Park, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Catherine E. Carr

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  1. Anna Kraemer
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Correspondence to Anna Kraemer.

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Kraemer, A., Baxter, C., Hendrix, A. et al. Development of auditory sensitivity in the barn owl. J Comp Physiol A 203, 843–853 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-017-1197-1

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