Dear colleagues,
The following article appeared in the new issue of Acta Ornithologica:
Osiejuk, T.S., Grzybek, J. & Tryjanowski, P. 2008. Song structure and
repertoire sharing in the Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris in Poland. Acta
Ornithologica 42:157-165.
Abstract. The present study characterizes the song of Tawny Pipit males
(n = 55) recorded in May 2005 in the
Wielkopolska region of Poland. Tawny Pipits sang with a very variable
rate of 4-28 songs per minute (mean ± SE 16.0
± 1.35). Songs were thus short, with an average duration of under
0.5
sec. At the same time, songs were relatively complex
in structure and consisted of 2–3 (max. 5) units of frequency
between
2.7 and 5.3 kHz. Based on visual inspection
of sonograms and further cross-correlation analysis, 20 different song
types were distinguished. Each male had only a
single song type in his repertoire and the rendition of strophes
produced by a male were very stereotypical. The songs
of different males exhibited varying levels of similarity, from
completely different, through sharing some within-song
units, to strongly similar on sonograms. However, even the strongly
similar songs of different males demonstrated some
individuality in frequency parameters or fine note structure. On
average, there were only 0.38 different song types per
male within the population studied, and 83% of males sang song types
shared with at least one other male. Nine of the
20 song types described were unique, i.e. sung by single males. The
results of this study suggest that a highly variable
song rate may be a signal of male motivation, whereas individual
differences in song structure probably enable
individual recognition.
Link to download PDF: http://www.behaecol.amu.edu.pl/tomasz_osiejuk.html
All the best,
Tomasz
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