24. The Dawn Chorus and Other Diel Patterns in Acoustic Signaling

Staicer, Cynthia A.; Spector, David A.; Horn, Andrew G.

doi:10.7591/9781501736957-033

Cited by 59 publications

(92 citation statements)

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“…However, we found no evidence that early-singing species that vocalize in relative darkness were captured less often in degraded forest -habitat characterized by high-intensity light conditions. Staicer et al (1996) reviewed at least a dozen non-mutually exclusive ultimate hypotheses to explain why many birds produce peak bouts of singing at dawn, broadly classified by intrinsic (hormonal levels), social (mate and territorial communication), and environmental (e.g. abiotic conditions) factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the microclimate hypothesis in Amazonian birds: indirect tests of the ‘visual constraints’ mechanism

Rutt

Midway

Jirinec

et al. 2019

Oikos

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Proposed mechanisms for the decline of terrestrial and understory insectivorous birds in the tropics include a related subset that together has been termed the ‘microclimate hypothesis’. One prediction from this hypothesis is that sensitivity to bright light environments discourages birds of the dimly lit rainforest interior from using edges, gaps, or disturbed forest. Using a hierarchical Bayesian framework and capture data across time and space, we tested this by first determining vulnerability based on differences in within‐species capture rates between disturbed and undisturbed forest for 64 bird species at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project in central Amazonian Brazil. We found that 35 species (55%) were vulnerable to anthropogenic habitat degradation, whereas only four (6%) were more commonly captured in degraded forest. To infer visual sensitivity, we then examined two different characters: eye size (maximum pupil diameter) relative to body mass and the initiation time of dawn song, which presumably reflects a species’ visual capacity under low light intensities. We predicted that species with large relative eye sizes and birds with earlier dawn songs would exhibit increased vulnerability in degraded habitats with bright light. Contrary to our predictions, however, vulnerability was positively correlated with the mean start time of dawn song. This indicates that species that wait to initiate dawn song are also more vulnerable to habitat degradation. After correcting for body size, there was no effect of eye size on vulnerability. Together, our results do not provide quantitative support for the light sensitivity mechanism of the microclimate hypothesis. More sensitive experimental tests, such as behavioral assays with controlled light environments, especially in a comparative framework, are needed to rigorously evaluate the role of light sensitivity as an aspect of the microclimate hypothesis among Neotropical birds.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the microclimate hypothesis in Amazonian birds: indirect tests of the ‘visual constraints’ mechanism

Rutt

Midway

Jirinec

et al. 2019

Oikos

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“…Despite inconsistent conformity to AAH predictions across the Order Primates, along with many bird species (Staicer, Spector, & Horn, ), many primates also exhibit vocalization peaks at dawn and dusk (Table ), with callers exploiting low abiotic noise levels and ideal microclimates for long distance sound transmission (Henwood & Fabrick, ). Most studies on primate calling, however—and primate behavior more broadly—are limited to when researchers are also active, during the day.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal patterns of chimpanzee loud calls in the Issa Valley, Tanzania: Evidence of nocturnal acoustic behavior in wild chimpanzees

Piel

2018

American J Phys Anthropol

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Chimpanzees were acoustically active throughout the 24-hr cycle, although at low rates compared to diurnal activity, revealing night-time activity in an ape otherwise described as diurnal. Chimpanzee loud calls partially, and weakly, conformed to the acoustic adaptation hypothesis and likely responded to social, rather than environmental factors. Call rates accurately reflect grouping patterns and PAM is demonstrated to be an effective means of remotely assessing activity, especially at times and from places that are difficult to access for researchers.

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“…The second recording was 1 h and 59 min followed by a 1-min pause to write the files just prior to a further 1 h and 29 min of recording. This schedule ensured that recording began well before the dawn chorus (Bruni et al 2014) and the playback experiment, and ended after sunrise when the dawn chorus was complete (Staicer et al 1996), while keeping file sizes within reasonable limits.…”

Section: Study Site and Array Recordingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early singers attend to conspecific but not heterospecific behavioural cues at dawn

Hodgson

Waas

Foote

2018

Journal of Avian Biology

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During the dawn chorus songbirds initiate singing activities just prior to sunrise. Environmental factors affect the timing of the dawn chorus, but relatively little is known about how behavioural cues influence chorus timing. We assessed whether early playback of conspecific and heterospecific song influenced chorus start times in two early‐singing temperate species, hermit thrush Catharus guttatus and veery C. fuscescens. We used arrays of GPS time‐synchronized recorders to record the dawn chorus at 30 locations. In each location, thirty minutes prior to natural chorus initiation, we broadcast: 1) an early singing species (hermit thrush or veery), 2) a late singing species (black‐throated green warbler Setophaga virens or Nashville warbler Oreothlypis ruficapilla), 3) a noise control, and 4) also recorded without playback (silent control). Playback treatments were separated by two‐three days at each location. Both hermit thrush and veery sang significantly earlier in response to conspecific playback compared to noise or silent controls. Both species also sang earlier in response to conspecific playback compared to the day before or the day after playback. Neither species sang earlier in response to heterospecific playback (regardless of whether the broadcast species was a naturally early or late song initiator) compared to noise or silent controls. Our results support the theory that the dawn chorus is a communication network where individuals attend primarily to conspecific cues; heterospecific song appears to have minimal impacts on the chorus start times of the two early‐singing species we investigated.

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24. The Dawn Chorus and Other Diel Patterns in Acoustic Signaling

Cited by 59 publications

References 0 publications

Examining the microclimate hypothesis in Amazonian birds: indirect tests of the ‘visual constraints’ mechanism

Examining the microclimate hypothesis in Amazonian birds: indirect tests of the ‘visual constraints’ mechanism

Temporal patterns of chimpanzee loud calls in the Issa Valley, Tanzania: Evidence of nocturnal acoustic behavior in wild chimpanzees

Early singers attend to conspecific but not heterospecific behavioural cues at dawn

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