Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Individuality in the contact calls of cooperatively breeding long-tailed tits (Aegithalos caudatus)
AU - Sharp, SP
AU - Hatchwell, BJ
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - The ability to discriminate between individuals or groups of individuals is important for the evolution of sociality. Individual vocal recognition is thought to be widespread in social birds, yet few studies have investigated its role in cooperatively breeding species. In long-tailed tits, helpers preferentially provide care to close kin, and individuals are able to discriminate between the vocalisations of kin and non-kin. However, the mechanism underlying this recognition system is unknown. Here we quantify the relative variation between and within individuals in three of the contact calls used by this species. Spectrographic cross-correlation revealed that two of these calls, the 'churr' and the 'triple', were individually distinct. We therefore analysed the variation in a series of acoustic parameters in each of these two vocalisations. For both the churr and the triple, discriminant function analysis was able to allocate calls to the correct individuals according to variation in several frequency parameters. We hypothesise that long-tailed tits are able to discriminate between the calls of conspecifics based on these parameters. This is the first quantitative description of potential recognition cues in a cooperatively breeding bird in which vocal discrimination is known to occur.
AB - The ability to discriminate between individuals or groups of individuals is important for the evolution of sociality. Individual vocal recognition is thought to be widespread in social birds, yet few studies have investigated its role in cooperatively breeding species. In long-tailed tits, helpers preferentially provide care to close kin, and individuals are able to discriminate between the vocalisations of kin and non-kin. However, the mechanism underlying this recognition system is unknown. Here we quantify the relative variation between and within individuals in three of the contact calls used by this species. Spectrographic cross-correlation revealed that two of these calls, the 'churr' and the 'triple', were individually distinct. We therefore analysed the variation in a series of acoustic parameters in each of these two vocalisations. For both the churr and the triple, discriminant function analysis was able to allocate calls to the correct individuals according to variation in several frequency parameters. We hypothesise that long-tailed tits are able to discriminate between the calls of conspecifics based on these parameters. This is the first quantitative description of potential recognition cues in a cooperatively breeding bird in which vocal discrimination is known to occur.
KW - Aegithalos caudatus
KW - long-tailed tit
KW - PARENT-OFFSPRING RECOGNITION
KW - ACOUSTIC BASIS
KW - recognition
KW - FAIRY-WRENS
KW - GREAT TITS
KW - cooperative breeding
KW - KIN RECOGNITION
KW - CHICKADEE CALLS
KW - SONG
KW - vocalisations
KW - contact calls
KW - KINSHIP
KW - DISCRIMINATION
KW - SIBLING RECOGNITION
KW - individuality
U2 - 10.1163/156853905774831918
DO - 10.1163/156853905774831918
M3 - Journal article
VL - 142
SP - 1559
EP - 1575
JO - Behaviour
JF - Behaviour
SN - 0005-7959
IS - 11-12
ER -