Low frequencies in the display vocalization of the Western Capercaillie ( Tetrao urogallus )

PeerJ

article

Vlastimil Hart¹  Richard Policht¹  Vojtěch Jandák²  Marek Brothánek²  Hynek Burda¹ 

[1] Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague;Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague

关键词: Communication;    Vocal individuality;    Grouse;    Acoustic communication;    Low-frequency signals;    Courtship behaviour;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.9189

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Only a few bird species are known to produce low-frequency vocalizations. We analyzed the display vocalizations of Western Capercaillie males kept in breeding centers and identified harmonically structured signals with a fundamental frequency of 28.7 ± 1.2 Hz (25.6–31.6 Hz). These low-frequency components temporally overlap with the Whetting phase (96% of its duration) and they significantly contribute to the distinct vocal expression between individuals. The resulting model of discrimination analysis classified 67.6% vocalizations (63%, cross-validated result) correctly to the specific individual in comparison to the probability by chance of 12.5%. We discuss a possible function of low-frequency components that remains unclear. The occurrence of such low frequencies is surprising as this grouse is substantially smaller than cassowaries (Southern cassowary Casuarius casuarius and Dwarf cassowary Casuarius bennetti) , the species that produces similarly low frequencies. Because these low frequency components temporarily overlap with the Whetting phase, they are hardly audible from a distance larger than several meters.

【 授权许可】

CC BY