On Sun, Jan 14, 2007 at 02:23:47PM +1100, John Leonard wrote:
> Syd has written a very interesting account of how Rufous Scrub-birds
> have learnt to ignore tape-recordings of RSB calls. Presumably with
> most species playing back their calls doesn't sound quite right to
> them, but they respond anyway, on the off chance that its a real bird.
> These RSBs have learnt not to bother, and presumably younger birds
> have picke dup this behaviour and are perpetuating this.
I had the same reaction to Syd's anecdote as John - it suggested the
impact from playback was limited by RSB behaviour.
But I doubt birds can generally distinguish playback (with reasonable
equipment) from conspecifics because songs vary significantly both within
and between individuals and due to degradation in transmission.
Individual recognition has been established in quite a few passerines
so its plausible the RSBs have learnt to recognize the particular songs
on the tape rather than distinguishing it as artificial.
Andrew
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