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Vocal behaviour of the island-endemic Cozumel Wren (Troglodytes aedon beani): song structure, repertoires, and song sharing

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Abstract

Documenting the diversity of vocal behaviour across different avian taxa is key to understanding the ecology and evolution of complex behaviours. Unique to Cozumel Island in the Mexican Caribbean Sea, the Cozumel Wren (Troglodytes aedon beani) provides an opportunity to investigate how isolation influences complex cultural traits. Most aspects of the biology, natural history, and taxonomy of Cozumel Wrens are unknown. In an attempt to better understand the Cozumel Wren’s biology, we provide the first description of the songs and the vocal behaviour of this island-endemic bird. Based on more than 700 h of recordings, including more than 36,000 songs, we describe the fine structural characteristics of male Cozumel Wrens songs, and explore patterns of repertoire organization and song sharing. Cozumel Wrens sing songs composed of highly variable syllables, with prominent trills at the end of each song. Each bird has a limited repertoire of songs, which they create by recombining a restricted number of syllable and trill types. They repeat a song type several times before switching to a different one, with some variation in the number of times they repeat specific elements. Cozumel Wrens share more song types with neighbours than distant individuals. Syllable sharing, however, is equivalent between neighbours and distant individuals. Our results provide important data for future research on the ecology, evolution, and behaviour of this island-endemic songbird, and for helping to clarify the taxonomic status of Cozumel Wrens.

Zusammenfassung

Stimmverhalten des inselendemischen Cozumelzaunkönigs ( Troglodytes aedon beani ): Gesangsstruktur, Lautrepertoires und Strophentypenverteilung

Die Dokumentation der Diversität des Stimmverhaltens über verschiedene Vogeltaxa hinweg spielt eine Schlüsselrolle beim Verständnis von Ökologie und Evolution komplexer Verhaltensweisen. Der Cozumelzaunkönig (Troglodytes aedon beani) kommt nur auf der Insel Cozumel in der Mexikanischen Karibik vor und bietet somit eine Gelegenheit zu untersuchen, inwieweit Isolation komplexe kulturelle Merkmale beeinflusst. Die meisten Aspekte der Biologie, der Naturgeschichte und der Taxonomie des Cozumelzaunkönigs sind noch unbekannt. Für ein besseres Verständnis der Biologie des Cozumelzaunkönigs stellen wir hier die erste Beschreibung der Gesänge und des Lautverhaltens dieser inselendemischen Vogelart vor. Auf der Grundlage von über 700 Stunden Aufnahmematerial, darunter mehr als 36.000 Gesänge, beschreiben wir die Feinstruktur der Gesänge männlicher Cozumelzaunkönige und untersuchen die Muster von Repertoireaufbau und Strophenverteilung innerhalb der Population. Die Gesänge der Cozumelzaunkönige bestehen aus hochgradig variablen Silben, und jeder Gesang endet in einem markanten Triller. Jeder Vogel hat ein limitiertes Gesangsrepertoire, das durch die Kombination einer begrenzten Anzahl von Silben- und Trillertypen gebildet wird. Ein Strophentyp wird mehrmals wiederholt, bevor zu einem anderen gewechselt wird; dabei variiert die Anzahl der Wiederholungen spezifischer Elemente. Cozumelzaunkönige haben mehr Strophentypen mit ihren Nachbarn gemeinsam als mit weiter entfernten Individuen. Allerdings haben Nachbarn ähnlich viele Gesangselemente gemeinsam wie weiter voneinander entfernt lebende Individuen. Unsere Ergebnisse liefern wichtige Daten für die weitere Erforschung von Ökologie, Evolution und Verhalten dieses inselendemischen Singvogels und können zur Klärung des taxonomischen Status des Cozumelzaunkönigs beitragen.

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Acknowledgments

We thank O. Rojas-Soto, A. Gordillo, J. Martínez-Gómez, H. Perdomo-Velázquez, and M. López-Mejía for logistical assistance. We thank E. C. Fernandez-Martínez for field assistance. We thank G. Budney from the Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds for loaning us recording equipment. We thank O. Rojas-Soto for assistance with permits for mist-netting birds. We thank T. W. P. Friedl, L. S. Johnson, and an anonymous reviewer for valuable comments that significantly improved the manuscript. For funding, we thank the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT), Secretaría de Educación Publica de México (SEP), and the University of Windsor for scholarship support of J. R. S. L., and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Government of Ontario for grants to D. J. M.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Windsor, Biology Building, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4, Canada

    J. Roberto Sosa-López & Daniel J. Mennill

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  1. J. Roberto Sosa-López
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Correspondence to J. Roberto Sosa-López.

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Communicated by T. Friedl.

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Sosa-López, J.R., Mennill, D.J. Vocal behaviour of the island-endemic Cozumel Wren (Troglodytes aedon beani): song structure, repertoires, and song sharing. J Ornithol 155, 337–346 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-013-1008-6

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