Effect of noise on behavioural response to simulated territorial intrusion in the Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus) (Aves: Tyrannidae)

The urban environment can act as an ecological filter and impose several negative impacts on bird behaviour. Although some species are well adapted to anthropic habitats, others are sensitive to the effects of human disturbance. Here, we addressed whether noise pollution affects the territorial behaviour of the Great Kiskadee, Pitangus sulphuratus. Here we conducted a field experiment on territorial individuals in urban and rural areas. We presented a model decoy along with the playback of the species’ song at 10 m from the focal individual to simulate a territory invasion. We used simulated territory intrusions as a method to stimulate bird territorial behaviour and notedthe time birds took to respond to the stimuli in urban and non-urban areas with different noise levels. The results show that response latency had a positive correlation with noise pollution. We conclude that noise pollution can interfere with intraspecific communication, affecting territorial behaviour.