Changing territories, changing tunes: male loons, Gavia immer, change their vocalizations when they change territories

Walcott, Charles D.; Mager, John N.; Piper, Walter H.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.07.011

Cited by 51 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…In adult birds, Walcott et al (2006) have recently described spectral and temporal changes in the yodel of male loons (Gavia immer), following the establishment of new territories. Changes in pitch were recorded in Galliforms during the breeding season (Beani et al 2000) and across seasons (Rotella & Ratti 1988).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of crowing development in the domestic Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

2009

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Species-specific behaviours gradually emerge, via incomplete patterns, to the final complete adult form. A classical example is birdsong, a learned behaviour ideally suited for studying the neural and molecular substrates of vocal learning. Young songbirds gradually transform primitive unstructured vocalizations (subsong, akin to human babbling) into complex, stereotyped sequences of syllables that constitute adult song. In comparison with birdsong, territorial and mating calls of vocal non-learner species are thought to exhibit little change during development. We revisited this issue using the crowing behaviour of domestic Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Crowing activity was continuously recorded in young males maintained in social isolation from the age of three weeks to four months. We observed developmental changes in crow structure, both the temporal and the spectral levels. Speed and trajectories of these developmental changes exhibited an unexpected high inter-individual variability. Mechanisms used by quails to transform sounds during ontogeny resemble those described in oscines during the sensorimotor phase of song learning. Studies on vocal non-learners could shed light on the specificity and evolution of vocal learning.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of crowing development in the domestic Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

2009

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“…For example, the ''boom'' calls of 18 wild marked male great bitterns Botaurus stellaris could be classified with 91% accuracy within day, but with only 52% accuracy over two weeks (Puglisi and Adamo 2004). Similarly, 12 of 13 wild male common loons Gavia immer, that switched their previous-year territories also changed their individually distinctive ''yodel'' calls whereas loons that did not switch their previous-year territories retained the same call structures (Walcott et al 2006). At the same time, both for wild and captive bald eagles Haliaeetus leucocephalus, no stable features in chatter calls were found either within or between years (Eakle et al 1989).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…It is applied to long-lived territorial birds, for example owls (e.g. Galeotti and Sacchi 2001;Lengagne 2001;Delport et al 2002;Tripp and Otter 2006), the great bittern (Gilbert et al 2002;Puglisi and Adamo 2004), the common loon (Walcott et al 2006), and the red-breasted goose .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examination of pair-duet stability to promote long-term monitoring of the endangered red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis)

Klenova

Volodin

Volodina³

2008

J Ethol

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Acoustic-based monitoring has proved useful for many birds and seems promising for the endangered red-crowned crane. However, its validity in crane conservation is unclear in the absence of knowledge concerning the long-term stability of pair-specific duets. The redcrowned crane is monogamous and long-lived, with stable pair bonding both within and between years. Pair mates perform loud duets-a succession of male and female calls emitted with definite temporal coordination. We examined the stability of duets for five captive pairs over five years (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007) on the basis of analysis of the syllables within the duets. MANOVA showed that the effect of pair identity on syllable characteristics was always stronger than the effect of the year of recording. Cross-validation of duets from 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 with discriminant analysis (DFA) functions derived, respectively, from pooled samples from resulted in comparably high percentages of correct classification into pairs. The pairs could be reliably identified by their duets and pair-specific differences in syllable characteristics were stable with time. These data suggest acoustic monitoring is a feasible alternative to more invasive methods of identification.

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“…In birds with vocal learning, the individual vocal patterns could be affected by variations in social and environmental contexts (e.g., Nowicki 1989;Hile et al 2000). For birds and mammals that do not possess vocal learning social factors such as territory and pair mate replacement or changes of the social environment may also influence the stability of vocal individuality; however, this has not been adequately investigated (mammals: Snowdon and Elowson 1999;Rukstalis et al 2003; single bird study: Walcott et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…However, the possibilities of maintaining or altering individual signatures through a bird's life span have remained largely unexplored. Those rare studies that addressed long-term modifications of individual signatures in calls of species without vocal learning show both vocal instability (birds: Eakle et al 1989;Guyomarc'h et al 1998;Puglisi and Adamo 2004;Walcott et al 2006;Volodin et al 2008;mammals: Jorgensen and French 1998;Snowdon and Elowson 1999;Rukstalis et al 2003;Chulkina et al 2006;Matrosova et al 2009Matrosova et al , 2010a and vocal stability (birds: Gilbert et al 1994;Galeotti and Sacchi 2001;Lengagne 2001;Tripp and Otter 2006;Grava et al 2008;Klenova et al 2009a;mammals: Butynski et al 1992;Reby et al 1998). The factors that affected individual signature stability in calls of different long-lived animal species are still poorly known.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inter- and intra-season stability of vocal individual signatures in a social seabird, the crested auklet

2011

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Vocal plasticity due to changes of social context is well documented in passerine birds. In other bird species, the impact of social environment changes on the whole vocal structure and on individual specific signatures remains largely unexplored. Here, we assessed inter-and intraseason stability of specific features of individual signatures in advertising calls of crested auklet (Aethia cristatella) males and tested the effects of pair mate and territory changes on the stability of the calls. The crested auklet is a highly social seabird of the North Pacific that breeds in dense colonies, and its individuals switch pair mates and territories with probability of 25-54%. During summer 2008-2010, we recorded 464 trumpet calls from 21 individually marked males and determined their pair mates and positions of their displaying places on a breeding colony of Talan Island, Sea of Okhotsk. We found that strong individual specific features of crested auklet trumpet calls stay stable not only during one season but also from year toyear. However, we failed to find any effects of pair mate or territory changes on individual signatures of crested auklet trumpet calls. Our results suggest that crested auklets can potentially use their individually specific trumpet calls to form long-term social bonds both between pair mates and between neighbors; however, future experimental studies should test whether this is indeed the case.

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Changing territories, changing tunes: male loons, Gavia immer, change their vocalizations when they change territories

Cited by 51 publications

References 5 publications

Dynamics of crowing development in the domestic Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Dynamics of crowing development in the domestic Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Examination of pair-duet stability to promote long-term monitoring of the endangered red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis)

Inter- and intra-season stability of vocal individual signatures in a social seabird, the crested auklet

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