Geographic Variation in Note Composition and Use ofchick‐a‐deeCalls of Carolina Chickadees (Poecile carolinensis)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether geographic variation exists in the composition of note types in the chick‐a‐dee call of Carolina chickadees. This determination is of interest for two reasons: earlier studies with a related species suggested minimal geographic variation in note composition, and geographic variation in social signals may represent important developmental or selection processes shaping signal use. Carolina chickadees were recorded in a naturalistic observation study in west‐central Indiana. Chick‐a‐dee calls were analyzed and compared to calls from an eastern Tennessee population that had been described in a previously published study (Auk, 125, 2008, 896). Despite much similarity in the basic rules by which notes are organized to compose calls, there were several significant differences in how calls of the two populations were structured. Furthermore, birds from Indiana used their chick‐a‐dee calls in certain contexts in different ways compared to birds from Tennessee. These findings suggest interesting population‐level variation in this call system, and future research should be able to determine whether these differences are driven by evolutionary, ecological, or developmental factors, or some combination of these factors.

Foraging intention affects whether willow tits call to attract members of mixed-species flocks

“…This is consistent with previous studies showing that parids are often followed by other species that exploit the same food items [4]. In general, parids have large vocal repertoires [41,42] and produce different call types in different contexts, such as when driving away a predator [43–45] or when in flight [46]. These calls may be recognized by other species and evoke behavioural responses [12–14], but the community-level outcomes of interspecific communication remain poorly understood [3].…”

Variation in chick‐a‐dee calls of bridled titmice (Baeolophus wollweberi): Frequent use of non‐combinatorial calls in a combinatorial calling system

“…In most Poecile and Baeolophus species, D notes are used more often in higher arousal contexts such as predation threat. D notes are rarely used in flight, at least in Carolina chickadees (Freeberg & Mahurin, ). We suspect that D note usage by bridled titmice will be similar to that seen in other Paridae species.…”

“…Additionally, during recording, the observer noted whether bridled titmice produced calls in the context of ‘flight’ or of ‘close interaction’. The context of flight included calls produced by a signaler while it was flying and calls that were produced within 1 s of leaving a perch to take flight (as in studies of Carolina chickadees: Freeberg, ; Freeberg & Mahurin, ). We defined ‘close interaction’ when two bridled titmice were within 15 cm of one another.…”

Quantifying similarity in animal vocal sequences: which metric performs best?

“…); the humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae (Garland et al . ); and the calls of the Carolina chickadee, Poecile carolinensis (Freeberg ) , to reconstruct geographical dialect. In the case of the hyrax, humpback whale and chickadee, the calls consisted of a sequence of discrete acoustic elements.…”

“…), the second data set used recordings of rock hyraxes (Kershenbaum et al . ) and the third set Carolina chickadees (Freeberg ). Previous studies have shown that in the humpback whale, rock hyrax and Carolina chickadee, song syntax varies according to the geographical origin of the population.…”