Hitting all the notes : Connecticut warblers sing an extended song type

Thumbnail image

Download files

Language of the publication
English
Date
2022-07-12
Type
Accepted manuscript
Author(s)
  • Plastino, Kaitlyn
  • Hannah, Kevin
  • Russell, Rich
  • Foote, Jennifer R.
Publisher
Springer Nature

Abstract

Birds use songs to communicate with mates and rivals and thus these signals have important social and fitness consequences. Understanding the pattern of vocalization and repertoire use of a species is valuable for population monitoring and species recovery plans. The Connecticut Warbler (Oporornis agilis) is an enigmatic passerine bird for which we know little about its vocal repertoire and behavior. We examined autonomous recordings from boreal avian monitoring projects from Ontario, Canada, and discovered a previously undescribed extended song type, similar to that of other related warbler species. Extended songs are composed of a number of syllables including the species’ primary song and averaged 7.1 ± 0.2 s (SE) in length, five times longer than primary songs. The song appears to have a structure similar to Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) and Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) song with introductory syllables preceding the first primary syllables followed by a mix of terminal syllables that were often interspersed with additional primary syllables. Individuals have on average 13.0 ± 0.5 different syllables and songs are composed of 10.8 ± 0.2 syllable types and 14.8 ± 0.4 total syllables. While primary songs occurred more often before sunrise and throughout the morning, extended songs were more often detected before and after sunset suggesting temporal separation in song type use. Our results extend our understanding of the vocal behavior of the Connecticut Warbler and related species within the Oporornis-Geothlypis complex.

Description

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-022-02005-z

Subject

  • Nature and environment,
  • Science and technology

Pagination

31 pages, annex

Peer review

Yes

Open access level

Green

Identifiers

ISSN
2193-7206
2193-7192

Article

Journal title
Journal of Ornithology
Journal volume
163
Accepted date
2022-06-21
Submitted date
2022-02-15

Download(s)

URI

Collection(s)

Biodiversity

Full item page

Full item page

Page details

Date modified: