01930nas a2200121 4500008004100000245011500041210006900156520145700225100001901682700002501701700002401726856005801750 2021 eng d00aThe evolution of wood warbler flight calls: Species with similar migrations produce acoustically similar calls0 aevolution of wood warbler flight calls Species with similar migr3 a

Diverse animal species engage in long‐distance migrations. Many migrants travel in groups, and communication within these groups may be important to survival and successful migration. We examined migration and communication in 36 species of wood warblers (Parulidae), songbirds that breed in North America and migrate in mixed‐species flocks to their wintering grounds. During migration, wood warblers produce short vocalizations called “flight calls.” The function of flight calls and the patterns of acoustic similarity between species are poorly understood. We investigated whether acoustic similarity of flight calls of different species of warbler reflects the similarity in their migratory journeys or their phylogenetic relatedness. We found that phylogeny, similarity in breeding latitude, and overlap in the timing of migration predict acoustic flight call similarity across warbler species. Further, we found that phylogeny, similarity in migration distance, and overlap in wintering range predict acoustic flight call similarity in a subset of 12 species with highly similar calls, although this analysis has a small sample size. We conclude that migratory similarity may be an important force driving the evolution of acoustically similar calls in wood warblers, in addition to phylogenetic relatedness. Acoustic convergence in these species may facilitate communication between individuals with similar migrations.

1 aGayk, Zach, G.1 aSimpson, Richard, K.1 aMennill, Daniel, J. uhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evo.1416702273nas a2200205 4500008004100000245010700041210006900148520160100217653001601818653001801834653002001852653001401872653002901886653001601915653001701931653002901948100002301977700002302000856004402023 2020 eng d00aDoes the presence of an observer affect a bird's occurrence rate or singing rate during a point count?0 aDoes the presence of an observer affect a birds occurrence rate 3 a

The approach or presence of an observer may affect the behavior of nearby birds, rendering them either more or less detectable than when no observer is present due to a change in singing rates. To test whether there are systematic detection biases associated with the presence of an observer during point count bird surveys, we compared the occurrence and singing rates of birds during a 10‐min period immediately preceding the time when an observer arrived to conduct a count and during the formal count itself by extracting song information from autonomous sound recorders. We obtained recordings of 36 species of birds detected at ≥5 locations in one of three vegetation types, including burned conifer forest, green conifer/riparian streamside forest, and riparian bottomland/marshland. We found that species richness and both the probability of occurrence and singing rate for any of the species recorded were unaffected by the presence of an observer. In addition, the probability of occurrence did not differ significantly among four 2.5‐min recording sessions during 10‐min counts when an observer was present. Thus, the presence of an observer did not appear to introduce any detectable systematic bias that would make bird lists or unadjusted occurrence rates inaccurate on that basis alone. In addition, rates of bird occurrence across 2.5‐min temporal subsets of a 10‐min count did not vary in a systematic way that would violate the assumption of equal occupancy across adjacent time periods as sometimes used to build detection histories in occupancy modeling.

10abird survey10adetectability10aobserver effect10aoccupancy10apassive acousticsampling10apoint count10asinging rate10autonomous recording unit1 aHutto, Richard, L.1 aHutto, Russell, R. uhttp://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jofo.1232902160nas a2200145 4500008004100000245011200041210006900153260002000222300001100242490000600253520167400259100002301933700001701956856004101973 2017 eng d00aVocalizing during gaps in anthropogenic noise is an uncommon trait for enhancing communication in songbirds0 aVocalizing during gaps in anthropogenic noise is an uncommon tra cJul-06-20172238 aTLP16D0 v13 a

Mounting evidence suggests that anthropogenic noise negatively impacts many wildlife species, including songbirds. One mechanism by which noise affects songbirds may be through acoustic obstruction to their systems of vocal communication. However, many species increase the amplitude or pitch of their vocalizations, which may partially mitigate the impact of high noise levels. When the amplitude of anthropogenic noise varies over time, such as near a moderate-use highway, short gaps between noise events may also provide an important opportunity for communication. But, whether songbirds adjust vocalization rates rapidly to avoid overlap with noise is unknown for most species. We used acoustic playback to expose songbirds to simulated road noise during the dawn chorus in otherwise quiet habitats. We measured vocalization rates under ambient conditions and during quiet gaps embedded within playback of road noise to assess whether a community of songbirds, and nineteen individual species, vocalize more regularly during noise gaps. There were no significant differences in community-wide acoustic output. Species-specific analysis revealed that only four species altered their vocal rates during quiet gaps in noise, but that the direction of the effect varied by species. Point count results revealed that birds generally remained on site for the duration of the experiment, suggesting that abandonment of noisy locations was unlikely to confound our results. In sum, increasing vocal output during short gaps in noise occurred in only a handful of species, perhaps contributing to the limited number of species that are found within noisy habitats.

1 aProppe, Darren, S.1 aFinch, Emily uhttps://bio.acousti.ca/fi/node/52597