Song structure and organization in the Red-flanked bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus, Passeriformes, Muscicapidae)

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Abstract

The first description of the song repertoire and song sharing in the Red-flanked bluetail is provided. The study was performed in the Khakassky State Nature Reserve, Siberia. Singing of 19 males were analysed. Songs lasted about 1 s. The repertoire size per male were 1–3 (usually 2) song types. The vast majority of songs consisted of two parts: the motif part and the trill part. In a male repertoire, different song types can have a similar motif part, but different trill parts, or vice versa. However, in each male, the song types are stereotyped, and the motif and trill parts from a male repertoire cannot be combined freely. In contrast, in the population as a whole, the diversity of songs increasing due to different males can combine a limited number of motif and trill types in different ways. Therefore, the motif types and the trill types, but not the song types, are parts of a population repertoire. To reveal the general patterns of repertoire structure and organization in Saxicolinae, the data obtained were compared with several other species from the same subfamily. Many Saxicolinae are found to be capable of increasing the song diversity at either individual level or both at individual and population levels by more or less freely combining the stereotyped parts of the song.

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About the authors

A. S. Opaev

A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: aleksei.opaev@sev-in.ru
Russian Federation, Leninsky av., 33, Moscow, 119071

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. Map-scheme of recording points of males of the Blue-tailed Duck (red dots). Shown are 15 males (out of 19 studied) inhabiting the area where the Karasum River flows into the Ona River. The roads along which Pintails were recorded are shown.

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3. Fig. 2. Examples of consecutive songs of the same type of two male blue-tails: above - male No. 5, below - male No. 10. Gray dotted line shows the main part of the song, blue dotted line shows the final trill.

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4. Fig. 3. Repertoires of three male blue-tails, each with two song types. The gray frame shows the main part of the song, the blue frame the final trill. Numbers in the circles indicate the number of this repertoire unit (type of main part or final trill) in the population catalog. Circles of the same color indicate repertoire units common for different song types of one individual or for several individuals. The shown male blue-tailed booby individuals illustrate the main types of variability of individual repertoires: male No. 4 has all units of repertoire different, male No. 13 has the same final trill for different song types, and male No. 19 has the same main part.

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5. Fig. 4. Observed occurrence of different song types in the population repertoire. A song type is a combination of certain types of the main part (rows, numbers of EP types of the main part are shown in blue) and the final trill (columns, numbers of EP types of the final trill are shown in red). Numbers in the cells are the number of males with this song type recorded.

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