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.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amrhein V, Erne N (2006) Dawn singing reflects past territorial challenges in the Winter Wren. Anim Behav 71:1075–1080
Baker MC (2004) The chorus song of cooperatively breeding laughing Kookaburras (Coraciiformes, Halcyonidae: Dacelo novaeguineae): characterization and comparison among groups. Ethology 110:21–35
Baker MC (2009) Information content in chorus songs of the group-living Australian Magpie (Cracticus tibicen dorsalis) in Western Australia. Ethology 115:227–238
Beecher MD, Brenowitz EA (2005) Functional aspects of song learning in songbirds. Trends Ecol Evol 20:143–149
Benedict L (2010) California Towhee vocal duets are multi-functional signals for multiple receivers. Behaviour 147:953–978
Benedict L, McEntee JP (2009) Context, structural variability and distinctiveness of California towhee (Pipilo crissalis) vocal duets. Ethology 115:77–86
Benedict L, Kunzmann MR, Ellison K, Purcell KL, Johnson RR, Haight LT (2011) California Towhee (Melozone crissalis), In: Poole A (ed) The birds of North America online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca. Accessed 20 Oct 2013
Bradbury JW, Vehrencamp SL (2011) Principles of animal communication, 2nd edn. Sinauer, Sunderland
Cadena CD, Cuervo AM (2010) Molecules, ecology, morphology, and songs in concert: how many species is Arremon torquatus (Aves: Emberizidae)? Biol J Linn Soc 99:152–176
Catchpole CK, Slater PJR (2008) Bird song: biological themes and variations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Chesser RT, Banks RC, Barker FK, Cicero C, Dunn JL, Kratter AW, Lovette IJ, Rasmussen PC, Remsen JV Jr, Rising JD, Stotz DF, Winker K (2010) Fifty-first supplement to the American Ornithologists’ Union check-list of North American birds. Auk 127:726–744
Collins PW (1999) Rufous-crowned sparrow (Aimophila ruficeps). In: Poole A, Gill F (eds) The birds of North America. Birds of North America, Philadelphia, p 472
Collins S (2004) Vocal fighting and flirting: the functions of birdsongs. In: Marler P, Slabbekoorn H (eds) Nature´s music, the science of bird song. Elsevier, San Diego, pp 39–79
DaCosta JM, Spellman GM, Escalante P, Klicka J (2009) A molecular systematic revision of two historically problematic songbird clades: Aimophila and Pipilo. J Avian Biol 40:206–216
Franco P, Slabbekoorn H (2009) Repertoire size and composition in great tits: a flexibility test using playbacks. Anim Behav 77:261–269
Garamszegi LZ, Balsby TJ, Bell BD, Borowiec M, Byers BE, Draganoiu T, Eens M, Forstemeier W, Galeotti P, Gil D, Gorissen L, Hansen P, Lampe HM, Leitner S, Lontkowski J, Nagle L, Nemeth E, Pinxten R, Rossi JM, Saino N, Tanvez A, Titus R, Török J, Van Duyse E, Møller AP (2005) Estimating the complexity of bird song by using capture-recapture approaches from community ecology. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 57:305–317
Gibbs HL, Weatherhead PJ, Boag PT, White BN, Tabak LM, Hoysak DJ (1990) Realized reproductive success of polygynous Red-winged Blackbirds revealed by DNA markers. Science 250:1394–1397
Hale A (2006) Group living in the black-breasted wood-quail and the use of playbacks as a survey technique. Condor 108:107–119
Hall ML (2004) A review of the hypotheses for the functions of avian duetting. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 55:415–430
Hall ML (2009) A review of vocal duetting in birds. Adv Study Behav 40:67–121
Handford P, Lougheed SC (1991) Variation in duration and frequency characters in the song of the Rufous-collared Sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis, with respect to habitat, trill dialects and body size. Condor 93:644–658
Hope S (1980) Call form in relation to function in the Steller’s jay. Am Nat 116:788–820
Howell SNG, Webb S (1995) A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, New York
Johnson RR, Haight LT (1996) Canyon Towhee (Melozone fuscus). In: Poole A (ed) The birds of north America online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca. Accessed 20 Oct 2013
Klicka J, Barker FK, Burns KJ, Lanyon SM, Lovette IJ, Chaves JA, Bryson RW Jr (2014) A comprehensive multilocus assessment of sparrow (Aves: Passerellidae) relationships. Mol Phylogenet Evol 77:177–182
Koloff J, Mennill DJ (2013) Vocal behaviour of Barred Antshrikes, a Neotropical duetting suboscine bird. J Ornithol 154:51–61
Langmore NE (1998) Functions of duet and solo songs of female birds. Trends Ecol Evol 13:136–140
Lemon RE, Chatfield C (1971) Organization of song in cardinals. Anim Behav 19:1–17
Leonardo A, Konishi M (1999) Decrystallization of adult birdsong by perturbation of auditory feedback. Nature 399:466–470
Logue DM (2006) The duet code of the female black-bellied wren. Condor 108:326–335
Logue DM (2007) Duetting in space: a radio-telemetry study of the black-bellied wren. Proc R Soc Lond B 274:3005–3010
Mann NI, Marshall-Ball L, Slater PJB (2003) The complex song duet of the plain wren. Condor 105:672–682
Marler P (1956) The voice of the chaffinch and its function as a language. Ibis 98:231–261
Marler P, Isaac D (1960) Song variation in a population of brown towhees. Condor 62:272–283
Marler P (2004) Bird calls: a cornucopia from communication. In: Marler P, Slabbekoorn H (eds) Nature´s music, the science of bird song. Elsevier, San Diego, pp 132–177
Mennill DJ, Vehrencamp SL (2005) Sex differences in the singing and duetting behavior of neotropical Rufous-and-white Wrens (Thryothorus rufalbus). Auk 122:175–186
Mennill DJ, Vehrencamp SL (2008) Context-dependent functions of avian duets revealed through microphone array recordings and multi-speaker playback. Curr Biol 18:1314–1319
Mennill DJ, Ramsay SM, Boag PT, Ratcliffe LM (2004) Patterns of extrapair mating in relation to male dominance status and female nest placement in Black-capped Chickadees. Behav Ecol 15:757–765
Millsap BA, Seipke SH, Clark WS (2011) The Gray Hawk (Buteo nitidus) is two species. Condor 113:326–339
Morton ES (1975) Ecological sources of selection on avian sound. Am Nat 109:17–34
Morton ES, Gonzales Alonso HJ (1982) The biology of Torreornis inexpectata I. A comparison of vocalizations in T. i. inexpectata and T. i. sigmani. Condor 94:433–446
Naguib M (2003) Reverberation of rapid and slow trills: implications for signal adaptations to long-range communication. J Acoust Soc Am 113:1749–1756
Price JJ, Lanyon SM (2002) Reconstructing the evolution of complex bird song in the oropendolas. Evolution 56:1514–1529
Price JJ, Clapp MK, Omland KE (2011) Where have all the trees gone? The declining use of phylogenies in animal behaviour journals. Anim Behav 81:667–670
Richardson DS, Burke T (2001) Extra-pair paternity and variance in reproductive success related to breeding density in Bullock’s Orioles. Anim Behav 62:519–525
Rising JD (2011) Familiy Emberizidae (buntings and New World sparrows). In: del Hoyo J, Elliot A, Christie D (eds) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol 16. Lynx, Barcelona, pp 428–683
Sandoval L (2014) Acoustic communication in thicket habitats: vocal behaviour and vocal divergence in Mesoamerican Melozone ground-sparrows. Disertation, University of Windsor
Sandoval L, Barrantes G (2012) Characteristics of male spot-bellied bobwhite (Colinus leucopogon) song during territory establishment. J Ornitol 153:547–554
Sandoval L, Mennill DJ (2012) Breeding biology of White-eared Ground-sparrow (Melozone leucotis), with a description of a new nest type. Ornitol Neotrop 23:225–234
Sandoval L, Mennill DJ (2014) A quantitative description of vocalizations and vocal behaviour of Rusty-crowned Ground-sparrow (Melozone kieneri). Ornitol Neotrop 25:219–230
Sandoval L, Méndez C, Mennill DJ (2013) Different vocal signals, but not prior experience, influence heterospecific from conspecific discrimination. Anim Behav 85:907–915
Sandoval L, Méndez C, Mennill DJ (2014) Individual distinctiveness in the fine structural features and repertoire characteristics of the songs of White-eared Ground-sparrows. Ethology 120:275–286
Staicer CA, Spector DA, Horn AG (1996) The dawn chorus and other diel patterns in acoustic signaling. In: Kroodsma DE, Miller EH (eds) Ecology and evolution of acoustic communication in birds. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, pp 426–453
Stiles FG (2009) A review of the genus Momotus (Coraciiformes: Momotidae) in northern South America and adjacent areas. Ornitol Colomb 8:29–75
Stiles FG, Skutch AF (1989) A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca
Trejos-Araya C, Barrantes G (2014) Natural history and acoustic repertoire of the Large-footed Finch (Pezopetes capitalis), an endemic, highland bird of Costa Rica and western Panama. Ornitol Neotrop 25:261–271
Tweit RC, Finch DM (1994) Abert’s Towhee (Melozone aberti). In: Poole A (ed) The birds of north America online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca. Accessed 20 Oct 2013
Wildenthal JL (1965) Structure of the primary song of the mockingbird (Mimus ployglottos). Auk 82:161–189
Wiley RH (1991) Association of song properties with habitats for territorial oscine birds of eastern North America. Am Nat 138:973–993
Wolf LL (1977) Species relationships in the avian genus Aimophila. Ornithol Monogr 23:1–220
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.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by C. G. Guglielmo.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
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
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1237-y