Acoustic similarity of flight calls corresponds with the composition and structure of mixed-species flocks of migrating birds: evidence from a three-dimensional microphone array

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-5-2023

Publication Title

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Volume

378

Issue

1878

Keywords

acoustic similarity, bioacoustics, communication, flight calls, migration, Parulidae

Abstract

Animals that migrate in mixed-species groups may communicate with both conspecific and heterospecific individuals, providing a low-cost mechanism for navigation whenever individuals share similar migratory routes or destinations. Many migratory birds produce calls while flying, but the function of these calls, and the forces contributing to their evolution, are poorly known. We studied flight calls in mixed-species groups of wood warblers (Parulidae), a biodiverse group of migratory songbirds. We used a spatial approach to examine whether acoustic similarity of flight calls varies with group composition, recording flight calls of mixed-species flocks with a wireless microphone array and triangulating the positions of birds in three dimensions. We found that the acoustic similarity of flight calls was correlated with spatial proximity: birds with similar calls fly closer together during migration. We also found relationships between acoustic similarity, flock size and mixed-species flock diversity: birds with similar calls fly in smaller flocks and in flocks with lower species diversity. Our results support the idea that migrating birds use flight calls to maintain contact with acoustically similar individuals in mixed-species flocks, with communication transcending species boundaries. These results suggest that acoustically similar flight calls are used as cues of group assembly for migratory animals. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Mixed-species groups and aggregations: shaping ecological and behavioural patterns and processes’.

DOI

10.1098/rstb.2022.0114

ISSN

09628436

E-ISSN

14712970

PubMed ID

37066647

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