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Vocal behaviour of White-eared Ground-sparrows (Melozone leucotis) during the breeding season: repertoires, diel variation, behavioural contexts, and individual distinctiveness

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Abstract

There are relatively few quantitative descriptive studies of the vocalisations and vocal behaviour of tropical bird species, in spite of the tropic’s rich avian biodiversity and the extensive variety of vocalisations produced by tropical birds. This lack of information inhibits our understanding of tropical animals, including our ability to perform comparative analyses on vocal behaviours from an evolutionary perspective. In this study, we present the first quantitative description of the vocal repertoire and daily vocal activity of White-eared Ground-sparrows (Melozone leucotis), using focal and autonomous recordings collected during two consecutive breeding seasons in Costa Rica. We classified vocalisations into categories based on their visual appearance on sound spectrograms to create a library of vocalisations for this species. We found that White-eared Ground-sparrows produce three main categories of vocalisations: solo songs, calls, and duets. Solo songs were produced only by males. Each male sang a repertoire of solo song types, which all shared the same general structure with short introductory notes, a frequency-modulated middle section, and a terminal trill. Both sexes produce calls and coordinated vocal duets. We quantified patterns of diel variation in each category of vocalisation, and found that the Ground-sparrows produced all three vocalisations at higher output at dawn (between 0500 and 0600 hours) compared to the rest of the day. This study allowed us to conduct the first comparisons of vocalisations between White-eared Ground-sparrows and North American species in the genus Melozone, and revealed both similarities and differences between the species groups. Our investigation also showed that vocalisations related to communication within pairs and to territory defence (calls and duets) exhibited lower levels of individual distinctiveness than vocalisations related mainly to female attraction (male solo songs). Our observations suggest that each of the three types of vocalisations have multiple functions in White-eared Ground-sparrows, revealing diverse communication functions with a small vocal repertoire in this tropical songbird.

Zusammenfassung

Gesangsverhalten von Weißohrammern ( Melozone leucotis ) während der Brutzeit: Repertoires, Tagesvariation, Verhaltenskontext und individuelle Charakteristik Trotz des Vogelartenreichtums der Tropen und der großen Vielfalt an Lautäußerungen tropischer Vögel, gibt es verhältnismäßig wenige quantitativ-beschreibende Studien zu Vokalisation und Gesangsverhalten tropischer Vogelarten. Dieser Mangel an Informationen vermindert unser Verständnis tropischer Vögel, einschließlich der Fähigkeit, vergleichende Analysen zum Gesangsverhalten aus Sicht der Evolution durchzuführen. In dieser Studie präsentieren wir erstmals eine quantitative Beschreibung des Stimmenrepertoires und der täglichen Gesangsaktivität von Weißohrammern (Melozone leucotis) mittels gezielter und unabhängiger Aufnahmen, die in zwei aufeinander folgenden Brutsaisons in Costa Rica gesammelt wurden. Wir teilten die Lautäußerungen in Kategorien ein, um auf Basis des Aussehens der Klangspektrogramme eine Sammlung der Lautäußerungen für diese Art anzulegen. Weißohrammern erzeugen drei Hauptkategorien von Lautäußerungen: Sologesang, Rufe und Duette. Sologesänge werden ausschließlich von Männchen erzeugt. Jedes Männchen sang ein Repertoire aus Sologesangstypen, die alle die gleiche Grundstruktur hatten mit kurzen Einleitungstönen, einem frequenzmoduliertem Mittelteil und einem abschließendem Triller. Beide Geschlechter erzeugen Rufe und aufeinander abgestimmte Stimmduette. Wir quantifizierten Muster in der täglichen Variation der einzelnen Lautäußerungskategorien. Dabei konnten wir feststellen, dass Grundammern in der Morgendämmerung (zwischen 5:00 und 6:00) eine höhere Gesangs- und Stimmäußerungsleistung erbringen im Vergleich zum Rest des Tages. Mit Hilfe dieser Studie können die ersten Vergleiche von Lautäußerungen zwischen Weißohrammern und anderen nordamerikanischen Arten der Gattung Melozone angestellt werden, um sowohl Gemeinsamkeiten als auch Unterschiede zwischen den Artengruppen aufzuzeigen. Unsere Untersuchungen zeigen auch, dass Lautäußerungen im Zusammenhang mit der Kommunikation zwischen Brutpartnern und zur Revierverteidigung (Rufe und Duette) ein geringeres Maß an individueller Charakteristik aufweisen, als solche, die vor allem der Weibchenanwerbung (Sologesänge der Männchen) dienen. Unsere Beobachtungen lassen erkennen, dass jeder der drei Lautäußerungstypen verschiedene Funktionen bei Weißohrammern hat, was wiederum darauf hin deutet, dass das kleine Stimmenrepertoire eines tropischen Singvogels diverse Kommunikationsfunktionen haben kann.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Estación Biológica Monteverde, Lankester Botanical Garden, and Bosquesito Leonel Oviedo from Universidad de Costa Rica for logistical support and access to reserves. LS was supported by scholarships and grants from the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (MICIT) and the Consejo Nacional para Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICIT) of Costa Rica, the Government of Ontario, and the University of Windsor. Additional funding was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Government of Ontario, and the University of Windsor to DJM. This investigation was conducted under the permit 071-2011-SINAC of Ministerio de Ambiente Energía y Telecomunicaciones and the Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación of Costa Rica. None of the authors have a conflict of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON, N9B3P4, Canada

    Luis Sandoval & Daniel J. Mennill

  2. Laboratorio de Bioacústica Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Montes de Oca, Costa Rica

    Luis Sandoval & Carolina Méndez

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  1. Luis Sandoval
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  2. Carolina Méndez
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Correspondence to Luis Sandoval.

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Communicated by C. G. Guglielmo.

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Sandoval, L., Méndez, C. & Mennill, D.J. Vocal behaviour of White-eared Ground-sparrows (Melozone leucotis) during the breeding season: repertoires, diel variation, behavioural contexts, and individual distinctiveness. J Ornithol 157, 1–12 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1237-y

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