Date of Award

2012

Publication Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

M.Sc.

Department

Biological Sciences

Keywords

Chiroxiphia linearis, duetting lek, Long-tailed Manakins, overlapping, vocal behaviour

Supervisor

Daniel J Mennill

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

Tropical birds are little studied relative to temperate birds, despite the fact that tropical species often exhibit unique behaviours, not seen in the temperate-zone. I explore the link between male vocal behaviour and female movement in neotropical lekking Long-tailed Manakins (Chiroxiphia linearis) using acoustic recordings to monitor male vocalizations and a novel telemetry system to monitor female visitation behaviour. I report surprisingly few relationships between male vocalizations and female visitation behaviour, in contrast to results from another long-term study population in a different habitat. I examine the timing of male calling behaviour, showing that males avoid overlapping known neighbours, but actively overlap unknown intruders simulated through playback. Overall, my thesis provides insight into acoustic communication in manakins, revealing that male vocalizations play less of a role than expected in female mate choice, and that males modify the timing of their calls in response to the vocalizations of other nearby individuals.

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