Context-dependent vocal mimicry in a passerine bird.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
Eben Goodale, Sarath W Kotagama

Abstract

How do birds select the sounds they mimic, and in what contexts do they use vocal mimicry? Some birds show a preference for mimicking other species' alarm notes, especially in situations when they appear to be alarmed. Yet no study has demonstrated that birds change the call types they mimic with changing contexts. We found that greater racket-tailed drongos (Dicrurus paradiseus) in the rainforest of Sri Lanka mimic the calls of predators and the alarm-associated calls of other species more often than would be expected from the frequency of these sounds in the acoustic environment. Drongos include this alarm-associated mimicry in their own alarm vocalizations, while incorporating other species' songs and contact calls in their own songs. Drongos show an additional level of context specificity by mimicking other species' ground predator-specific call types when mobbing. We suggest that drongos learn other species' calls and their contexts while interacting with these species in mixed flocks. The drongos' behaviour demonstrates that alarm-associated calls can have learned components, and that birds can learn the appropriate usage of calls that encode different types of information.

References

Aug 5, 2000·Animal Behaviour·V M Janik, P J Slater
Aug 18, 2004·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·Peter Marler
Nov 4, 1977·Science·P Marler, S Peters
Feb 1, 1996·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·D Ebert, W D Hamilton

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Nov 26, 2009·Die Naturwissenschaften·Chaminda P RatnayakeSarath W Kotagama
Apr 16, 2011·Die Naturwissenschaften·Laura A Kelley, Susan D Healy
Sep 24, 2010·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Paola LaioloYari Roggia
Nov 5, 2010·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Tom Flower
Mar 1, 2013·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·David Wheatcroft, Trevor D Price
Mar 14, 2014·Biology Letters·Antonio J GolubskiSean F Ellermeyer
Jan 23, 2010·Journal of Theoretical Biology·Natalia L Komarova, Simon A Levin
Jun 13, 2009·Behavioural Processes·Kathryn LordRaymond Coppinger
Jun 12, 2014·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Robert D MagrathAndrew N Radford
Jun 5, 2015·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Branislav IgicRobert D Magrath
Aug 1, 2014·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Anastasia H DalziellRobert D Magrath
Oct 5, 2018·Evolution Letters·Maria Goller, Daizaburo Shizuka
Jan 3, 2020·The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·Sona PatelCharles R Larson
Jun 23, 2021·Current Biology : CB·Katharina Riebel
Sep 7, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Samantha Carouso-PeckW Tecumseh Fitch

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Auditory Perception

Auditory perception is the ability to receive and interpret information attained by the ears. Here is the latest research on factors and underlying mechanisms that influence auditory perception.