Abstract
We studied the acoustic features of the endangered red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), and, specifically, whether or not the duets carry information about a mating pair identity. The population of this species in the wild is only approximately 2,000 individuals. In 2003–2006, we recorded 343 duets from eight captive and two wild pairs. All of the duets contained an introduction, an unordered alternation of pair mate calls, followed by the main part, representing the regular sequence of syllables, containing 1–2 male and 1–4 female calls per syllable. We subdivided the syllables into five types, by the number of male and female calls per syllable, and analyzed the occurrence of the different syllable types in the duets of the ten pairs. The analysis showed the sustainable pair-specific use of particular syllable types through the years. The discriminant analysis standard procedure, based on seven frequency and temporal parameters of male and female calls, showed 97.7% correct assignment to the pair, which is significantly higher than random values. The high pair specificity of the duet acoustic structures provides the basis for call-based censuses. This would enable the monitoring of the red-crowned crane mating pairs in their natural habitat.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the staff of the Oka Crane Breeding Centre of Oka Biosphere State Nature Reserve, and personally T.A. Kashentseva, K.A. Postelnykh, T.V. Postelnykh, and E.V. Antonyuk for providing the possibility for research and for their all-round help during data gathering. Also, we are sincerely grateful to the staff of the Rare Bird Reintroduction Station and of the scientific department of Khingansky State Nature Reserve, especially V.A. Andronov, R.S. Andronova, E.U. Gavrikova, S.A. Kuznetsova, N.V. Kuznetsova, N.N. Balan, and M.P. Parilov for providing the possibility for research, for their help with the search for a wild pair of red-crowned cranes, and for providing video- and audio-archive materials. We also thank the staff of Muraviovka Park of Sustainable Land Use, and personally S.M. Smirenski, M. Kolodina, and S. Andreeva for providing the possibility for field research and for their help with the search for a wild pair of red-crowned cranes. Also, we thank E.V. Bragina for help with the duet recording from wild and captive pairs of red-crowned cranes, O.A. Filatova for help with the data treatment, and A.A. Lisovsky for help with the statistical analysis. We sincerely appreciated Crawford Prentice, Justin Chuven, Carolyn Unck, Melissa Babich, and Amy Cohen for looking over the manuscript and the careful correction of the English language and style. Finally, we thank the two anonymous referees for their constructive and inspiring comments. During our work, we adhered to the Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Research and to the laws of the Russian Federation, the country wherein the research was conducted. This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant 06-04-48400).
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Klenova, A.V., Volodin, I.A. & Volodina, E.V. Duet structure provides information about pair identity in the red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis). J Ethol 26, 317–325 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-007-0063-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-007-0063-y