Timing vocal behavior: Lack of temporal overlap avoidance to fluctuating noise levels in singing Eurasian wrens

Yang, Xiaojing; Slabbekoorn, Hans

doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2014.10.002

Cited by 20 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…78 dB(A), the chaffinches in our study did not significantly reduce their song overlap with the noise. This is in line with a previous study by Yang and Slabbekoorn (2014) that used white noise with an average amplitude of 64 dB(A). Considering that white noise at this sound level can stimulate birds to increase their vocal output (Brumm et al 2009a,b;Brumm and Zollinger 2013), it is not surprising that the previous study did not find a reduction of singing activity during the noise exposure.…”

Section: Speciessupporting

confidence: 93%

“…In addition, birds are known to adjust the short‐term timing of their songs to avoid overlap with heterospecific songs (Brumm and Zollinger ). However, in one of the few experiments conducted on birds, Eurasian wrens ( Troglodytes troglodytes ) did not avoid overlapping their songs with 10‐second bouts of white noise played back to them (Yang and Slabbekoorn ). Hence, it is still an open question whether birds use their song timing capacity to adjust their vocal output to short‐term fluctuations of anthropogenic noise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Airport noise predicts song timing of European birds

Dominoni

Greif

Nemeth

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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Anthropogenic noise is of increasing concern to biologists and medical scientists. Its detrimental effects on human health have been well studied, with the high noise levels from air traffic being of particular concern. However, less is known about the effects of airport noise pollution on signal masking in wild animals. Here, we report a relationship between aircraft noise and two major features of the singing behavior of birds. We found that five of ten songbird species began singing significantly earlier in the morning in the vicinity of a major European airport than their conspecifics at a quieter control site. As birds at both sites started singing before the onset of air traffic in the morning, this suggests that the birds in the vicinity of the airport advanced their activity to gain more time for unimpaired singing before the massive plane noise set in. In addition, we found that during the day, chaffinches avoided singing during airplane takeoffs, but only when the noise exceeded a certain threshold, further suggesting that the massive noise caused by the airport can impair acoustic communication in birds. Overall, our study indicates that birds may be adjusting their mating signals and time budgets in response to aircraft noise.

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Section: Speciessupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Airport noise predicts song timing of European birds

Dominoni

Greif

Nemeth

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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“…A physical constraint would be somewhat surprising given the number of species known to shift vocal timing in relation to other biotic sounds (Egnor et al, 2007;Brumm and Zollinger, 2013;Gil et al, 2015). However our results are similar to those of Yang and Slabbekoorn (2014) who found that Eurasian wrens, a species known to temporally shift acoustic output to avoid conspecific vocal overlap, did not temporally shift song to avoid overlap with anthropogenic noise. Perhaps, the social constraints that regulate songbird communication (e.g., Hall et al, 2006;Vehrencamp et al, 2007) prevent fine-scale temporal shifts in vocal production.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…Reed buntings (Emberiza schoeniclus) in roadside habitats exhibited higher singing rates on days when traffic levels were low (Gross et al, 2010). Conversely, Yang and Slabbekoorn (2014) found that Eurasian wrens (Troglodytes troglodytes) did not exhibit differential vocal rates between quiet and noisy locations, and did not alter singing rates during brief playbacks (20 s) of anthropogenic noise. Theoretically, concentrating vocal production during quieter periods embedded within high levels of anthropogenic noise could conserve energy and facilitate communication (Slabbekoorn and Ripmeester, 2008).…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%

Vocalizing during gaps in anthropogenic noise is an uncommon trait for enhancing communication in songbirds

Proppe¹,

Finch²

2017

JEA

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Mounting evidence suggests that anthropogenic noise neg-atively impacts many wildlife species, including songbirds. One mechanism by which noise affects songbirds may be through acoustic obstruction to their systems of vocal communication. However, many species increase the amplitude or pitch of their vocalizations, which may partially mitigate the impact of high noise levels. When the amplitude of anthropogenic noise varies over time, such as near a moderate-use highway, short gaps between noise events may also provide an important oppor- tunity for communication. But, whether songbirds adjust vocalization rates rapidly to avoid overlap with noise is unknown for most species. We used acoustic playback to expose song- birds to simulated road noise during the dawn chorus in oth- erwise quiet habitats. We measured vocalization rates under ambient conditions and during quiet gaps embedded within playback of road noise to assess whether a community of songbirds, and nineteen individual species, vocalize more reg- ularly during noise gaps. There were no significant differences in community-wide acoustic output. Species-specific analysis revealed that only four species altered their vocal rates during quiet gaps in noise, but that the direction of the effect varied by species. Point count results revealed that birds generally remained on site for the duration of the experiment, suggesting that abandonment of noisy locations was unlikely to confound our results. In sum, increasing vocal output during short gaps in noise occurred in only a handful of species, perhaps con- tributing to the limited number of species that are found within noisy habitats.

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“…This suggests they are using similar strategies to cope with the two sources of noise. On the other hand, Eurasian wrens (Troglodytes troglodytes) time their singing to avoid overlap with other singing birds (which is a natural source of noise) (Yang & Slabbekoorn, 2014). However, they do not time singing to avoid overlap with fluctuating traffic noise suggesting their strategy to avoid a natural source of noise is not used to avoid an anthropogenic noise source.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of vessel noise on humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, communication behaviour

Dunlop

2016

Animal Behaviour

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Timing vocal behavior: Lack of temporal overlap avoidance to fluctuating noise levels in singing Eurasian wrens

Cited by 20 publications

References 62 publications

Airport noise predicts song timing of European birds

Airport noise predicts song timing of European birds

Vocalizing during gaps in anthropogenic noise is an uncommon trait for enhancing communication in songbirds

The effect of vessel noise on humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, communication behaviour

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