AI Article Synopsis
- We examine how the acoustic signals used by two gull species relate to their nesting behaviors: black-headed gulls (chicks stay in the nest) and slender-billed gulls (chicks leave to form crèches).
- There is a notable difference in their calls, with slender-billed gulls having two fundamental frequencies compared to the single frequency in black-headed gulls.
- Our findings suggest that the ability to distinguish individual calls is crucial for the species with greater challenges in recognizing parents due to their nesting style.
Article Abstract
We test relationships between structure of acoustic signal used for individual recognition and nesting ecology among two gulls: the black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus), in which chicks remain in the nest, and the slender-billed gull (L. genei), in which chicks leave the nest after hatching to form crèches. A striking difference between both species is the presence of two fundamental frequencies in the slender-billed gull's call and only one in the black-headed gull's call. Our study shows that the potential for individuality coding is more important in the species where the offspring experiment the greatest constraints--due to their nesting pattern--to identify their parents.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s1631-0691(03)00072-6 | DOI Listing |
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