Variation in avian vocalizations during the non-breeding season in response to traffic noise

Amy I. Oden, Mary Bomberger Brown, Mark E. Burbach, James R. Brandle, John E. Quinn

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Low-frequency traffic noise that leads to acoustic masking of vocalizations may cause birds to alter the frequencies or other components of their vocalizations in order to be heard by conspecifics and others. Altering parts of a vocalization may result in poorer vocal performance or the message contained in the vocalization being received incorrectly. During the winters of 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, we recorded and measured the 'chick-a-dee' call of Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and the 'po-ta-to-chip' call of American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) to determine whether components of the calls produced in areas of high traffic noise and low traffic noise differed in any way. We found that both chickadee and goldfinch calls had higher minimum frequencies in areas with high traffic-noise than in low traffic-noise areas. The maximum frequencies showed no differences in either species' calls. This suggests that chickadees and goldfinches alter the part of their calls that are acoustically masked by traffic noise in effort to better transmit the vocalization. These differences suggest that increasing anthropogenic noise may influence avian communication and that noise management should be included in conservation planning.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)472-479
Number of pages8
JournalEthology
Volume121
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2015

Keywords

  • Acoustic interference
  • Acoustic masking
  • Anthropogenic sound
  • Avian vocalizations
  • Calls
  • Soundscape

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Animal Science and Zoology

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